


Swan Song

by Anaya_of_Wolves



Series: Healing a Heartsong [6]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Dissonance (Original Creatures), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fighting, Friendship, Gen, Going to Find Answers, Heartless (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Heartless Attacks (Kingdom Hearts), Hurt, Implied Soriku, Inspired by Music, Major Original Character(s), Male-Female Friendship, Musical References, Mystery, Non-Binary Original Character(s), Not Re:Mind DLC compliant, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original World(s), POV Original Character, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Selectively Mute Character, Slight Soriku, Trying to find answers, pov switching, soft sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 50,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22808089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anaya_of_Wolves/pseuds/Anaya_of_Wolves
Summary: A final song must end the act of this musical, and for this song, there are many parts that need to come together to sing.Sora and Harmony have met a stranger who might lead them to find the answers they seek.  Or, they might be led into a trap that has been set for them by those so curious by the Darkness that had influenced a part of this world.  Friends will be relied upon, kept safe, and ultimately tested by the strength of their hearts and heartsongs by what the future holds for them now.This song will not be sung so easily by those in the choir, not so easily or quietly at all.
Relationships: Sora (Kingdom Hearts) & Original Character(s)
Series: Healing a Heartsong [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1277072
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1- Harmony's POV

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe this is the last part of the series. I doubt it will be the last fic that I do of this series, or maybe even the final one. But it definitely will end this arc of the story with Sora and Harmony. I have the beginning and ending planned out since I had started the series, but now I almost don't really want it to end. But I am going to keep writing, hoping that you all enjoy it and the world and characters just as much I had creating them!
> 
> Let me know what all of y'all think! Kudos and comments are always loved~

_Between “Here” and “There,” there has always been a song._

_Can’t you hear it calling for you now?_

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

_...“The reason for this visit, Melody, isn’t just of seeing my family. Oh, I do miss those days, but I do know that those memories carry a certain sadness that I’m sure you can understand. It has also been five years since anyone last saw Euterpe-”_

_The name wasn’t familiar to Sora, never having heard it before while he had been staying here. But his answer as to why came shortly enough with the haunted voice of Harmony’s next to him._

_“What about my mother?”_

A heaviness hung in the air after the question. No one was willing to break it, for a moment. A moment of silence felt good, in a way that Harmony knew in her heart that hadn’t been taught to her. Not by any parent, sibling, family, music teacher, or friend. A silence she wanted to keep right here and now, in order to both preserve her strength to keep standing there and to make sure nothing about the subject of her _mother_ from being spoken about.

Just her name, Euterpe, already stirred up too much. Too much and yet, not enough.

There were still so many questions, so many unknowns that lingered. Silence had always been the answer given to her when she asked about her mother. About what happened to her, what happened to her mother, and why she never came back home. No one knew. No one told her anything. No one wanted to break the hold of silence over Harmony’s heart in regards to whatever happened to her mother that left her ten years old and in the care of her sister when Melody was just barely twenty and into her opera career.

But now the silence was broken by a face she couldn’t really place a song too in her heartsong or memory.

Harmony stared down her cousin, Syncopation, and wanted answers that should have been given to her a long time ago. Answers to the questions that sometimes kept her up at night or haunted her dreams. Questions that were all about a figure who tempted her in the far reaches of her memories and who keened in her heartsong like an ill-strung string on an instrument.

“As I was saying,” Syncopation picked up their words like a missed beat, correcting the tone of their voice like it was more vocal practice than speaking with family, “It has been five years, nearly, since anyone who has seen her last. She was working on a very important project, though the records of which have gone missing or been corrupted too far to ever hope to correct. A pity, because such research was very valuable in order to figure out a strange anomaly that I believe-”

“Then leave it as that, something that should be left to the unknown.”

All eyes turned to her, varying expressions on each, but Harmony’s gaze stared back at Syncopation with an undivided look and haunting memories in her eyes.

Harmony didn’t want to hear anything more or have this person speak about what her mother worked on. A feeling raged in her chest, against anyone from finding out what her mother had been working on. It wasn’t some hoarding feeling of a secret that spawned such a feeling.

This feeling, Harmony felt, was more born from the feeling that no one should re-attempt what her mother had been doing. Something about it nagged at her mind and heartsong that she couldn’t recall as to _Why_ it was wrong. Just that it was.

“Dear little _cousin_ ,” Syncopation spoke it as though they spoke with a child who didn’t understand, “Not knowing why or what your mother was working on surely will just allow for another to make the same mistake-”

“No! Just forget about what she was working on, alright?!” Harmony yelled out, making all jump from such a tone. A pleased feeling ran through her, that they were _listening_ to her now. She didn’t speak to be ignored. She spoke, because they needed to hear and understand her. That whatever her mother had been working on wasn’t something that should be continued or studied at all.

Harmony watched as Syncopation’s face turned sour for a moment, before their face smoothed back out into a calmed look. She wanted it back to that sour look, at least that felt more real.

“If we all took that approach,” Syncopation began, voice cool and measured in a way that reminded Harmony of how strict some of her music teachers had been in school, “then no one would be able to explore the bounds of possibility of Sound and Silence. The Song calls for us all to be a part of it, and so we all follow our heartsongs to connect with it. To be in _harmony_ with us all.”

A sharp look in their eyes met back the roaring crescendo in Harmony’s. “Don’t you agree?”

A moment of silence passed between them as they stared at each other.

Silence that could have lasted a minute, or a hundred years. It hung heavy in the air, in a way that felt more like the concept of Silence than just silence in general.

It was a test, a trick, something to get Harmony to admit something. Whatever it was, she didn’t know the right or wrong answer to give. All she knew the one in her heart, that told her what to say.

For now, at least.

“Yes, of course. All heartsongs are connected to the Song in harmony.” The answer rattled off her tongue like a recitation of a lesson. Out of the corner of her eye, Harmony saw as Rhythm turned their head to give her a look. She couldn’t really tell what the look meant. All she could focus on still was this person sitting in her family’s living room and stirring up everything in her heartsong that she had thought wouldn’t be reawakened with a few key notes.

Well, not only them, however. If Harmony wanted to really speak the beginning of when this all felt as though a rising musical number, then she would have to look to her newest friend standing at her side.

Sora, that’s when she felt something in her heartsong change. Like waking up from a realistic dream and being disoriented by reality. For better or worse, something in the music had changed key.

Harmony turned to her sister then, the first time during this tense conversation, and told her, “We'll be heading upstairs now, Melody.” 

Melody jumped a bit in surprise, as though she had been awakened suddenly from sleep, and only met Harmony’s glance briefly before her younger sister was turning away to do as she said she would. She continued to watch as the twins and Sora followed after Harmony after a few beats, leaving the family once more as they had been before they had gotten there.

Now there was just a lingering sense of unease in the air, all revolving around Syncopation. No one of the household wanted to speak, and the look on Syncopation's face said that they didn't either. However, their eyes lingered on the empty doorway.

Harmony didn’t say much while they all sat around her room. While she sat on her bed, Sora and Beat took spots on the air mattress that he slept on and tried not to stare in waiting silence at her. Rhythm remained standing, leaning against the wall and was staring at Harmony. But she mostly gazed out the window, as though she was waiting for something or wanting to hear something on the wind.

Maybe she was.

Her heartsong felt like faint, indescribable murmurs, and the world around her sounded like being underwater where all the sound warbled. Nothing felt truly harmonious or in sync. That's what made her want to just wait for it to correct itself. It had to.

Because she had been told over and over again that everything was in Harmony with all heartsongs and the Song of Silence and Sound.

Dissonance was only a warning, a lesson to correct one from. Not something real in the world or heartsongs.

Wasn't it?

Harmony jumped a bit when she felt a hand against her shoulder. When she looked over, Rhythm was kneeling with one knee pressed in the mattress. She didn't want that soft sad look on their face. They all should be having fun together, not all sitting here in gloomy silence.

She wasn't being a good friend. Her heartsong wasn’t in harmony with theirs; she could tell. They would sense the dissonant and want to know what was wrong and try to correct it--

“Harm’, if you’re not feeling okay after that, we can do something to cheer you up or let you be in your room.”

The concern in Rhythm’s voice, so saturated by it, made Harmony feel even worse about what she was feeling right now. Because they only sounded like that because of her, and she didn’t want them or any of her friends to be so worried about her. There was no real way for her to describe what she was feeling -because it wasn’t just sadness and heartache of missing her mother, but something _more_ she could not name-, which would then lead to them worrying even more about her!

But there was nothing to really be worried about! 

She was just feeling something that felt deafening and discordant in her heartsong!

Truly, nothing _wrong_!!

“No, no,” quickly Harmony got out, turning away from the window and glancing at them all rapidly, “no, stay. Please. You just got here, and it wouldn’t be right if I was just by myself while you two were here-”

Her ramblings stopped mid-sentence when Rhythm placed their other hand on Harmony’s empty shoulder. The look in their face, that steadied gaze, caught her off-guard. She knew what it meant. They wanted her to breathe, to explain, to just simply be outside of her head. This wasn’t the first time she had slipped so far into her own head in worry and fear. It was making a cacophony of her heartsong.

Thankfully, she had friends who knew her too well at times to let her slip so far away in her worries and fears.

More movement on the bed caused Harmony to gaze over, seeing how Sora and Beat soon joined in on sitting closely. Both of them showed their worries and concerns on their faces more than Rhythm had, sinking that rock in her gut even lower. But neither of them soon appeared to want her to wallow in such sadness.

“Harmony, even if it might not really seem important, it’s your feelings. You shouldn’t bottle them up so deeply,” Sora reassured her with his almost sagely wisdom that she knew came from their talks together. He had his own troubles to deal with, which made his comfort come with that price of feeling even worse about making him worry.

Harmony hadn’t forgotten that he was a complete stranger here. He was also being kept away from the rest of his friends.

“But if you want us to,” Beat joined in, worrying his lower lip between his teeth and glancing to his sibling, “we can go to give you space. I don’t want to-, I mean, you shouldn’t have to deal with more bad notes if you’re so strung out. No one is making us stay here with you, so we don’t have to if you don’t want us to.”

Harmony’s vision blurred for a moment, and she faintly realized it was because of tears. She stared wide-eyed at Beat, mouth parted open and throat edging close with the tidal wave of emotions that threatened to close it completely. Only when she felt Rhythm’s hands tighten their grips on her shoulders did she look to them.

Rhythm was looking at their brother with a pointed gaze that spoke how they did not agree to what their twin had said. Something of a silent conversation passed between them, before they let go of Harmony’s shoulders and got up.

“Excuse us, Harmony,” Rhythm muttered, still looking at Beat, “we’ll just be outside for a moment. To give you some space.” They didn’t mention Sora at all and nearly hauled their brother up off the bed. Beat’s concern soured at that rougher touch, following after his twin with a confused scowl on his face as they left and shut the door behind them both.

She watched them leave, feeling another stab of pain in her chest that she was making them upset with each other. Another cause she hadn’t meant to create but unfortunately had. It seemed as though she was doing that a lot recently.

Once the twins left, only Sora and she remained seated on her bed.

Harmony glanced away from the now-shut door, looking to her hands clenched tightly together in her lap. She relaxed the muscles, feeling the tension ache through her hands. Even as the tension there eased away, the tightness in her chest and throat remained with their vice holds to keep her from forgetting. 

All of this pain, all that she had _caused_ , came forth because of her cousin, because of Syncopation.

Had they just minded their own business-!

“Harmony…”

Her eyes moved upward to meet with Sora’s this time, seeing how the blues reflected the same worry that Rhythm and Beat had for her. He looked sad too, in a way that distinctly reminded her that she promised they would be here for each other. Even if she told him to leave, to go hang out with the twins, he would still try and want to help her. His heartsong was so bright like that, uplifting in a way that she really had never seen before.

Not uplifting with just her heartsong, but with others too. How his heartsong felt lighter than air and yet brighter than the sunlight on a bright afternoon. Harmony had only confirmed what Sora had spoken of in connecting with other people with their hearts, because she had seen the way his heartsong could pull together so many melodies, hers and her family and friends, and continued to play without a hitch or missed note.

It was rumored for that kind of heartsong to be rare, nearly impossible really, except for the royal family in Symposia-Minor or in stories.

The thought that he might be related to the queen and her family made Harmony hiccup a chuckle out, wiping away stray tears and shaking her head to the unasked question of concern from Sora. No, she wasn’t alright, but she could try to feel better.

The pain was in her heartsong already.

After wet sniff and a wipe of her eyes, Harmony murmured out, “All of this, meeting them, really has just brought up parts of my heartsong and memories I thought I had at least enough time to get over.” She sighed out then, exhaling all the air in her lungs and letting the tension in her body go with it too. The next inhale felt a little better, but only just a little. “Seems like I was wrong.”

Sora frowned, forehead furrowing like it was a problem he didn’t want to admit to, and she found it one of his admirable traits. He was like no one else she had met before and felt like there were several reasons for that that could easily be listed off.

But the biggest reason, she knew of a fact, was simply because of his _heart_.

A heart like his was one of a kind.

She watched a few expressions pass over his face -a pout, a deep frown, a soft sigh, and then a small smile that was trying to up lift their spirits- before listening to him say, “It’s alright. We can talk about it, if you want. Or not. Up to you.”

Sora was trying to help, she knew that. Harmony still sighed when she thought about explaining just why all of this had had such an impact on her. It wouldn’t be easy, that was for sure. She didn’t know what his own family life had been like, but given that he apparently ran around many worlds and helping to save them all, she doubted he understood what it meant to be left with a small family. He didn’t understand the pain that came with only really being raised by a sister and her sister’s once-girlfriend now-wife. To have no parent to watch over her as she grew up, missing and only having memories of a mother that seemingly “disappeared” into thin air. 

“It’s a lot,” Harmony finally admitted, though the look on Sora’s face was prompting for her to continue, “Mostly about family, and a lot that I’ve slowly gotten over with these few years since my mom “disappeared,” as everyone keeps saying. Whether or not from her work, I really can’t remember.

Melody also worked a lot then and now, and I don’t blame her for being so busy. She was making a life with Symphony then, and I can barely remember my mom and was raised mainly by Mel’. It never felt right, at least not for my sister for that burden and not really having a mom around. 

What Syncopation said struck a chord in me that set off a sour note that sounded painfully _familiar_ in not a good way. My mom was working on something important, but I have always had a feeling it wasn’t something necessarily “good.””

Sora was only the third person she ever really admitted her feelings about how her life had been. The twins knew, at least as much as she told them both. But to tell him all that, to bear her heart open, felt more cathartic and nerve-wracking than anything else she had done before.

But it felt good, like singing out all of her emotions would. Sora would definitely listen, had listened, and it felt enough, for now.

Harmony sat with him in the quietness now, trying to listen to her heartsong and harmonize it as much as she could. She could hear the stray beats, the off-tune rhythm that was playing out and full of anger and sadness in equal parts. It would probably take a while, by herself, to really calm herself and her heartsong done enough. But she figured that maybe telling the twins to come back into her room would be a quicker way to help.

However, just as she began to think to move, Sora spoke up with a somber tone of voice that had her giving a surprised look. “I didn’t want to mention this. Not because I don’t trust you. I do, Harmony. But because, of how you were taking things that I thought I shouldn’t mention it right now.” The regret of having to mention this was definitely in the tone of his voice, Harmony could hear that. But still she wondered what he meant by mentioning something she didn’t know.

“What is it?” she quickly asked, waiting a few silent seconds before prompting him further to tell her what he meant, “Is it about my...cousin?”

“Yes,” Sora nodded, sounding first reluctant to mention it before his voice took on a firmer tone to explain to her, “I faintly sensed a dark presence from them. I’m not the best at sensing those, but the way they gave it off, it was hard not to notice. But it felt different.”

Different, Sora spoke of. She wondered how “different” compared to the man(/men?) that he spoke of. Xehanort, she thought his name to be, along with a few others who had similar sounding names.

But the way he said it also chimed bells in her memories, prompting her to ask then, “Like at the music square? With that heartless you fought?” Harmony had also felt how that hadn’t been right. Not just because of the obvious protrusions from the small Heartless, but the way that it moved off-tune to its own distorted heartsong.

The thought of links being made was alarming.

“Yes, and I feel like they are connected somehow.” Sora glanced away in thought, and Harmony wondered what was going through his head in connection with everything now. 

She thought over that creature, that Heartless, that reminded her of something else. Not because it was a Heartless, but the musical sounds it created that almost appeared wanting to escape from the binding it was in with the being of Darkness. Something in her own heartsong that day cried out for it, matching tune in a way that Harmony knew wasn’t exactly acceptable. 

No one wanted to match tune with a heartsong so struggling and so noisy like that had been.

But hers had, in a way that she felt more comfort in than fear. Whatever that reason was for, Harmony wanted to know just as much as she wanted to find out just how that creature came to be. If Sora was here to fight the Heartless, then she felt it was in her heartsong to not only help him, but find out more about those creatures.

Maybe to help fight against them; maybe to defend them.

Harmony knew her heartsong would guide her with the correct song in plan.

“Well,” Harmony began, staring at the still-closed door, “why don’t we go find out?” Briefly, she thought about Rhythm and Beat. Her friends would want to help, want to join in on this “adventure” of Sora’s and hers. But the danger was also a risk she didn’t want to put them in. Not that either of them would say that she should just risk it by herself.

As she climbed out of her bed, taking a few steps in one direction before abruptly turning as she mused over what they should bring and who else they should, Sora quickly spoke up from where he still sat, “Wh-what? But Harmony-”

Harmony whirled around where she had been at her bookcase, shaking her head and telling him with absolute confidence now, “No, I know we should!”

Sora didn’t look completely convinced of that.

Harmony rolled her eyes, finding that the disbelief in her idea more annoying than irritating from him, and placed her hand over her chest, over her heart. “If my heartsong is feeling bad with whatever I think they are trying to do with the Heartless and...whatever else, especially with the Darkness you said could destroy _worlds_ , then I think we should try and find out what is going on. And to stop it!”

Her argument sounded fine to her! It was a considerable worry for both of them, especially for Sora she thought. If he couldn’t handle it by himself, then would that mean the end of her world? Harmony knew she couldn’t allow either of those possibilities to occur, even it meant being in some danger trying to find out more and potentially stopping it.

“It seems like it was my mom’s work that they are trying to copy,” Harmony explained a little more to him, voice growing softer with the truth of sleepless nights of a heartsong she couldn’t hear anymore, “Even if I can’t really remember what it was about, that means we can’t let them go ahead with it!”

Harmony hoped he would agree with her and her reasons. The thought that she would have to do this alone, if Sora still declined, sat in her mind like a heavy weight. One she was willing to bear alone if her friend said he didn’t want to try.

But maybe there was some hope of his help.

“But, what about your sister? Symphony? Or the twins?” Sora had unfolded his legs and stood up from the bed, walking the few steps over to her and giving her a concerned look. She thought it was kind of him to worry about her family, about herself too, but Harmony also knew that if they worried too much about others without finding the source of the new problems, then it won’t do anyone any good in the end.

“No,” Harmony answered back with a soft shake, knowing that they couldn’t. Even if it meant hiding something from her own sister and oldest friends, the more she thought about what had happened to her mother and what could happen now wasn’t something she wanted to repeat again. “We can’t risk their safety in this. We should try and see what is going on first, and then see who we might need to help us.

Harmony looked to Sora then again, seeing the worry in his eyes and feeling a little bad for suggesting this so suddenly. But she could also see the itch too, the way he was weighing the options of finding out the truth verses staying safe. Harmony could nearly hear in his heartsong the call of adventure, the song of keeping those he cared about safe. They were alike the most in that regard, wanting to do what they could no matter what or where.

Finally, she got her answer from him, and a large grin broke over her face.

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

_Like the lasting waves on a beach._

_Never a beginning or ending, but a current that keeps moving._


	2. Chapter 2- Sora's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe that it has been over a year of working on this series. Honestly, I didn't eve think it would take me this long. But, you know what, I really do enjoy writing it. Even if it really doesn't get a whole lot of traffic as some of my other shippy stuff, I am happy to share my characters and the world they live in and Sora's adventures. Hope you all enjoy them too and stay tuned for more!
> 
> Also, sorry for the long wait for an update. A lot of stuff came up, namely hurting myself and not being able to type on a computer. I got most of this chapter done on my phone, but my wrists were starting to really hurt from doing that. So, I finally got my laptop done and really stuck to finishing it up!
> 
> Let me know how much you like it with Comments and Kudos~! Thanks!

_You broke the rhythm and the prose to make a song like no other._

_But you couldn't see that no one wanted to sing that song._

_No one wanted to sing a broken harmony._

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

Sora couldn't stop repeating the same thought over and over in his head right now: _This was a **bad** idea._

Had it been a bad idea when Harmony suggested finding out the truth? No, not really.

Was it a bad idea now that they were following someone back to whenever they worked to find answers? Probably so!

But Harmony was resolute, stubbornly so. To the point he was sure that she would have left to trail after Syncopation regardless whether or not he followed with her. He knew he couldn't really fault her for wanting answers, for wanting answers to questions that had clearly been bothering her for a long while -way before he arrived on this world. Sora wanted to help her find those answers too.

Following after a stranger wasn't exactly what he had in mind. 

It was dangerous, for starters. Secondly, something tugged in his own heart as they wound through the streets of Symposia-Major. The feeling persisted, a faint hum above all other sounds in the city so full of lights and music. It wasn’t exactly warning him to “stop” or “think about this more,” in the tone he could place more with Donald or Master Yen Sid. But it felt more like a soft warning.

A feedback loop repeating over and over again.

_Be careful. Be careful. Be careful. Be careful._

Over and over again, without pause or stop.

Sora had trusted in the feeling of his heart, to help guide him on what to do without being so influenced by darker forces. He knew that listening to his heart was a smart thing to do. However, listening to it and following its instructions were two different things.

Especially with Harmony so focused on following Syncopation!

Both ducked into an alleyway quickly, though Sora was following mostly Harmony’s lead on that. He watched her peak around the edge of the building, and then they were moving out of the cover to continue on. People passed them along the sidewalk, the steady streams of the populace that didn’t really bother him at all with how many worlds he had been to.

What was bothering him now was the feeling that this could end badly. Badly in the way that they were following right into a trap.

That’s what he finally concluded in his thoughts that this could be.

It had been obvious that this Syncopation came to Harmony's home because of them and what they had done in the square. Even if they had visited two days later, there was a nagging coincidence that plagued Sora's mind. Then they had brought up Harmony's mother, clearly choosing to upset her. More and more were piling up that following Syncopation after they had left was following into whatever plan to know more about Harmony and himself.

But Sora wasn't able to convince Harmony of that, or rather, it didn't matter.

_"Sora, even if that is true,_ I _have to know what they are doing!"_

_Sora frowned at that frantic determination. "Is because of your mother-?"_

_"Of course!" Harmony whirled around to face him, ignoring the strange looks from the people on the platform of the Stave Lines. "Not really…" Her shoulders dropped low. "I mean, it's been years, and no one else has tried to pick up her work. There is a reason for that, and it's one that means something. Whatever Syncopation is looking for or doing, I feel it deep in my heartsong that it isn't going to be good."_

_Sora understood feeling something so deep in his heart that he believed in. It got him through times so much worse than this. He could hear himself in her words. He could hear the desperation and the conviction hinging on a belief of will. All of made him want to help her, because she was someone he could understand and relate to. It was because of that that he didn't want her to get hurt. She was throwing herself head first into something she didn't know quite clearly what it was._

_But he was her friend, and he would never not help a friend in need._

_"Okay," he agreed, nodding his head when she looked at him with wide eyes, "we'll see what they are up to."_

_The brilliant smile of Harmony's lips and the quick pull on his arm did little to settle the worry still rolling around in him. His heart had to remain strong to be there for Harmony. Whatever would happen, they had to stick together._

That memory faded away, reminding Sora of his promise once more. He fully intended to keep it. Her heart, her heartsong, was strong, and he knew that two hearts were stronger together.

Following after Syncopation led them through Symposia-Major in almost a straight path towards wherever Syncopation was heading. Sora wondered briefly if, had the twins been here with them -instead of being told to just head back to their own home and not following after Sora and Harmony-, they would have been able to tell or predict where Syncopation was heading now. The confused looks that passed quickly over Harmony's face, adding a frown occasionally, told him enough that Harmony might not know where Syncopation was heading either. 

But not knowing where they were going still didn't stop either of them from still following after them.

The bustling city with its bright neon lights that illuminate the shadows casted by the tall skyscrapers and crowds of people that never seem to thin out anywhere provided Sora some hindrance in tracking Syncopation. Of course, most of the time, he could see their head and straight back among the rest of the people. They walked with a sense of purpose to wherever they were going.

But other times, he lost sight of them. Too many people, too many distractions for his eyes. He felt like he would never see them again.

Harmony never appeared to lose track of them. The only way he did catch sight of them was because of her. She followed whatever direction Syncopation took with a steady ease.

A brief thought reminded him of heartsongs and their connections to everyone.

If he couldn't fully listen to them, that didn't mean that Harmony couldn't.

Eventually they were on a path that even Sora remembered. He remembered walking it when he had been here last with Harmony and the twins. Shidaiqu brought them here during the visit to show where the capital of the kingdom lay. The sight of the musical gates surrounding Symposia-Minor made a heavy feeling settle in his gut.

There was no way they were going to be able to slip in after Syncopation. Even if no one of the crowds on the streets noticed them, the guards would surely!

Sora reached out a hand to tug on Harmony's arm to stop her from just intently following after Syncopation, but he stopped when he realized that they weren't heading directly through the main gates. He watched as they continued to go around the gates until they reached another entrance that led to tall buildings of modern, uniformed design. Syncopation was easily allowed entrance through the wide-open gates, and apparently most young adults walking to and fro through the gates.

Sora glanced around as they approached, waiting for someone to stop them. But Harmony continued on, and so did he. They walked through with a small nod to the guards and a few people walking through. Once inside, the buildings surrounded them with an air of professionalism.

Just as Sora was about to ask what this part of Symposia-Minor was, he noticed a free-standing plague of hammered silver with bronze lettering that read:

**_Royal Scientific-Musicological Section & University_ **

They walked past this ornate sign without stopping, though Sora had to do a double-take to make sure he read right. Well that definitely added more questions than answers. But it also made some sense as well, remembering how Syncopation kept bringing up research and studying when they had been talking.

Syncopation walked through the double glass doors of one of the buildings, this one bearing the name _Orpheum Hall_ , and disappeared inside of the building.

Sora took one more step after them, before he realized that Harmony hadn't continued. He glanced back to see what was going on. But all she was doing was standing there and staring hard at the building in front of them. He wondered what was going on with her and soon noticed that people were walking and staring at them for stopping there. That definitely wasn't good, especially since they also couldn't let Syncopation get too far ahead of them now.

"Harmony, what's wrong? We need to move-"

"I know a short-cut," her voice was distant as she spoke, like speaking from memory, "follow me." With that simple command, she quickly darted off towards the side of the building, walking within sight until she was around the corner of the building. Her footsteps were quick and sure were to go.

Sora followed after her, watching as she stopped at a door on this side of the building. Harmony appeared to be looking for something before finding it when she knelt down next to the door. She grabbed something from the dirt near the lone shrub with yellowish-orange flowers hanging down like trumpets. 

It was a key she brought up with a flourish and bright grin, standing up and going over to unlock the door. It opened without resistance. 

Inside was a long and very well-maintained cleaned hallway, with closed doors and windows here and there down the length. There was a soft glow of silver from the doors, standing out among the white walls. The floors reflected up the bright lights above along the glistening pale pink surface.

As they stepped inside, Sora heard Harmony murmur under her breath, "I'm glad I remembered where the key was…" She then glanced over to him and smiled brightly. All he could do in return was smile back, albeit a little less enthused than hers.

The door shut behind them; the sound echoed down the hall with a resonating deep hum. It felt eerie how the sound bounced along the hall, against the walls and ceiling. Nothing else nor no one was present to make a sound, which would probably have the same effect. Their footsteps would have to be light as they walked, so they didn't alert anyone nearby.

Harmony took the lead again. She kept her footsteps light, picking up her feet as she did. Sora followed suit, though lamenting a bit on the size of his shoes that sometimes let out a squeak that sounded like a dozen mice running down the hall. He was careful to not allow that to happen again, or at least too often.

The first window they passed revealed nothing but a darkened room beyond the glass pane. It looked to be a room half-filled with computers and free-standing sleeves with books lining them. Harmony tried the handle to that door, finding it locked when it did not budge. The next door was the same, and the one after that.

Instead of trying all the doors, Harmony pointed down the hall, and both began walking towards the T-junction of the hallway. Each took to glancing down the halls, seemingly similar sights of many doors and windows. 

Down the hall that Sora looked, a person walked out of one of the rooms, talking to another following close behind. Just as he was about to get Harmony's attention and back away so that they weren't seen, he felt a sharp tug on his arm before she was pulling down the other way. He nearly tripped, glancing over his shoulder as he righted himself and seeing that the two people he had seen were not heading down this way.

Just as he opened his mouth to tell Harmony that, she quickly whispered out, "This way!" How she knew that was a mystery to Sora to mull over as she nearly pulled him along down this stretch of hall.

It felt like it went on forever and ever. Each door appeared the same, until apparently one was not. That was the one that Harmony stopped in front of. Inside from what the window next to the door showed was a darkened room with displays and stands spread throughout it. Each one held up a musical instrument or sheets of paper. It didn't look anything special, compared to the previous rooms. 

Different, yes, but nothing too out of the ordinary comparatively.

Harmony reached for the door handle then, turning it and surprising them both when it opened up. She opened it up with a surprised look on her face, stepping inside once there was enough room to do so. Once she slipped inside, Sora was right behind her doing the same.

The inside was still just as dark, though Sora blinked a few times to adjust his eyes. Most of the instruments held behind the glass in the display cases looked rather old. Not dusty, obviously well-kept, but had an air of age about them. A glint of gold accents from dark wood sparkled about the room from the light that came through the doorway. Once the door shut, however, the glittering stopped.

Sora stepped away from Harmony to get a closer look at the instruments stuck in display cases. Each one was well-preserved and looked as old as the difference between the styles of Symposia-Operani and Symposia-Major. He carefully stepped pass one, eyes shifting around to each, before stopping at one case.

There were two flutes, broken in half, and resting on the bottom of the case. It looked like they had once stood straight up and against the stand inside. But now they sat dejectedly there, broken and aged.

A pang of sadness hit Sora's heart, feeling as though it wasn't right that this instrument was broken among so many that were not. Even if he had no idea if it was possible to even fix this flute, it deserved to be broken.

Nothing deserved that, to be broken and in pieces.

"Sora," Harmony's voice hissed out in the dark room, taking his attention away from the broken instrument. He saw her closer to one of the back corners of the room, waving him over with one hand as another pressed against the wall. He walked over to her as she continued to press against the wall. "There is something here! I just know it and can hear something calling for-"

Just as Harmony spoke, she pressed something hidden against the wall, even more well-hidden in the dark of the room. The wall opened up a small doorway, with a small set of metal stairs into a similarly dark lab. Only faint lights in the distance could be seen to give enough light to make that call. It appeared eerie in a way that wasn’t just from not being able to see the whole room.

But Sora felt the feeling in his chest growing louder and louder, making his heart pound against his ribcage.

_Be Careful! Watch Yourself! Danger! There are Dangers-!_

"Hey! What are you two doing-?!" A voice yelled out from behind them. Both of them jumped and quickly turned around to face an upset-looking security guard now in the room with them as well.

"This is a restricted area! You're not allowed to be here!" The guard continued to berate them, stalking closer to the two. His flashlight bounced between their faces.

Sora felt the urge to take a step back, to retreat. They had lost Syncopation well by this point. Now it looked like they were snooping somewhere without really any excuse. The brief thought of distraction and running appeared like a good idea, though it would mean having to escape those halls and outside. Their escape plan didn’t guarantee them being able to run all the way back into Symposia-Major without being caught either.

"We, uh-" Harmony stuttered as she tried to voice an excuse for them both. Her hands nervously tugged at the hem of her shirt. But the darkening glower on the security guard's face continued to darken further and made her shrink under its intense pressure.

The security guard stalked closer, putting a hand on each of their shoulders, and soon began directing them away from the obvious secret room and out of the room entirely. "You two are coming with me. Big trouble for the both of you-!" His voice bounced along the walls of the long hallway, echoing back disappointment in the tone. The direction he had them walking proved even further that they had to find a way to escape or else be further in this building than previously anticipated. Sora didn’t know if Harmony knew her way this far into the building.

But soon came a change in their bad luck.

All three stopped in the middle of the hallway as someone slipped out one of the rooms, looked to them, and approached without a sound. The person's footfalls, oddly enough, made no sound nor did their clothing rustle as they walked. They stopped clear in the way, and a hint of a smile was in the shadow of their lips. It took the security guard a moment to recognize this person, soon standing at attention and letting go of Sora and Harmony’s shoulders

"B-Flat,” the security guard greeted, clearly speaking to a commanding officer, “This is not a matter of the Silent Guard. I can handle two-”

This "Silent Guard” held up one of their lips to their lips, silencing him. Then they pointed at themself, and the hint of a smile grew more prominent on their lips. 

"But, but-” spluttered the security guard, “You don't have to bother! I can handle such a small problem-!" 

Again, the finger went up in that silencing motion, almost sharper this time. Then they waved their hand to shoo him away. He finally got the hint with a deep frown and glare at the two teens before walking away. He only spared one glance over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner down the hall. 

Sora let out a soft breath as some of the tension left, but there was still this "B-Flat" present to worry about. Who then gestured to follow them, giving off enough silent vibes not to disobey. Reluctantly and without a choice, both teens did so and followed B-Flat down the opposite way down the hallway. At least they were heading back the way they had taken.

Sora couldn't keep his curiosity to himself during the walk, whispering to Harmony, "What's a "Silent Guard"?" 

"They guard the Queen and the royal family." 

That didn't sound at all too good for them, now that they were being escorted by this person, who still made not a sound as they walked. That probably trumped the whole “protecting the Queen,” because it was eerie only hearing their footsteps and movement.

"Are they- Is that why they are so...quiet?"

Harmony sighed out a “Yes” to answer his question, looking less and less happy on how this turned out. As Sora was looking at Harmony, he caught out of the corner of his eye that B-Flat was giving him a mirthful look as they walked, which soon turned away when he looked their way. 

It felt longer this time heading back, if that was even where they were going. Sora did have a clue, only assuming so because of the directions they were taking. Just as they reached the final stretch of hallway towards the side entrance they had used to get inside, feeling a little better that maybe they weren’t going to be in so much trouble as he had thought they were going to be in, a few people left one of the rooms with small chatter between them. That would be so stranger, figuring that this building must house numerous rooms for use. Sora hadn’t even really paid attention to those coming out of the room, since it would be better to just act like nothing was wrong.

But then he heard Harmony whisper out his name, “Sora,” before he saw a glimpse of one of the people walking down the hall in the opposite direction. They passed with a brief glance, but it was unmistakable on who that man was.

The same one that had spoken to them on their run home from when the Heartless had attacked.

A recognizing look and a spark of something in the man’s face made Sora feel unease, before he gave the man back a defiant look. Even if he did not understand what the man was after or doing, he wasn’t going to let him get under his skin. At least he wanted to make the other think he wasn’t.

But the sharp look under blond fringed bangs proved that the man might not be so easily swayed by such.

They passed by each other, not stopping or being stopped. B-Flat walked as though nothing had transpired, though the two teens each shared a look at what had happened. It was clear something was definitely going on here, at least with whoever that man was, Syncopation, and something in Harmony’s memories and heartsong. All of that combined proved closer to an answer to be had in this mystery. Maybe it would help them solve whatever happened to Harmony’s mother.

And, Sora thought and felt deep in his chest, would help him find a way to return to all those that were missing him. That pull in his heart remained a guide, even though he could still hear the small echoes to be careful.

Something in the sound of his heart made him take the threat seriously.

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

_A song without a melody, without a key_

_Isn't a song but a sadness._

_Left alone by itself._


	3. Chapter 3- Riku's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this has probably been the fastest update to any of the fics in this series. I suppose that is what happens when my leg still hasn't recovered and can't really do much else! I also really wanted to write and get this chapter posted, though I suppose it has to do with writing in Riku's POV. I can't wait for what I have to write next, since we are getting to the good parts now~

_A steady tempo is key to a good song.  
_ _It is the earth beneath our feet.  
_ _Without it, there is no pace or motion.  
_ _Just the air rushing by too fast;  
_ _Or waves sluggishly moving against the shore._

~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~

Tempo. 

Riku soon found out the name of the stranger he had found himself face-to-face after the weird creature had somehow magically transported him here. They had to write it down for him to read, since their hand gestures wasn’t translatable to him. After that, they then leveled him a look with him that brokered no exception to an explanation of his arrival. He wished he knew what to tell them without sounding like he was making something up instead of the truth.

But, then again, maybe they had heard of this strange creature and its abilities. It was a try to explain it then.

“Well, I was transported here by a strange creature that only made musical noise. It brought me here.” Riku left out the part that he was searching for Sora, for now. Not that he assumed this person would know Sora, if they hadn’t already mentioned him yet. “I can’t really tell you how, besides that it blew on this bungle it summoned.” He quickly pantomimed what the creature had done, raising his hand up to his mouth to “blow.” “And somehow brought me here.”

Apparently, that meant something to this Tempo.

Their eyes widened and sparkled brightly as their grin. Quickly, they dashed over to one of the computers, typing out a series of codes and starting a myriad of programs that flashed too fast for Riku to understand what they did. He watched them as all their focus went in doing that, though a few diagrams on the screen caught his attention. It looked like portals, or similarly enough. After dealing with Dark Corridors and the warp gates to use with gummi ships, he could see that it was some kind of teleportation or gateway. Made sense, since that is what happened to him.

But soon he was being waved over by Tempo and was shown something else on screen once he walked over.

It definitely was another portal-like displayed image, though there were lines of music that almost fed into the coded image. Tempo continued to type a few more things into the computer, before the display on the screen showed that of a person in combination of the musical score being sucked into the portal. Then the screen shifted to show two portals, one obviously being the pervious portal, and having what looked to be transference between the portals with the digital person coming out of the second portal. The diagram then showed a connection that remained linking the two portals, with more code and musical scores that flashed on screen afterwards.

Riku was apt enough to read what he wasn’t being told by Tempo and just shown. 

Apparently, they were trying to understand or study music as a way to channel or create portals to teleport from one place to another. At least, that is what he hoped he was understanding from what they showed him. It made the most sense to him. Not that he really understood how it would be possible. What didn’t make more sense was that he hadn’t gone through portals like that when he got here.

Riku shook his head when Tempo turned their excited gaze. “I didn’t use portals, neither did the creature that brought me use any.”

That struck a chord in them, soon making a sour face as they thought over that, before they pointed to the lines of music now back on the screen. After a few taps to the screen, they looked back at Riku with a silent question.

“I mean, it _did_ use music, I think, to bring me here,” he agreed. The importance of such clarification was lost to him. Music wasn’t exactly Light or Darkness, or within the realms of Nothingness or Dreams. It could be a magic he had not yet learned. Nothing in his previous journeys or knowledge explained how it would be a powerful enough source to get him here.

Then again, the worlds were many and vast apart. Maybe there were things still left to learn that Master Yen Sid and the others hadn’t known about. Magic that wasn’t previously known or studied, simply because it was only particular to one world.

There was a thrill in knowing that he was experiencing such a magic, even if he had no clue in how it worked. That thrill was from childhood, wanting to learn and explore worlds far from the beaches of the home he knew. If Sora was here, then Riku didn’t doubt he would be excited by this musical magic as well.

If Sora was here…

“Excuse me,” Riku’s voice surprisingly didn’t interrupt the quick typing of Tempo’s fingers, steadily clicking each button and eyes only focused on the screen, “You wouldn’t happen to know someone named “Sora,” would you? About my age, with spiky brown hair?” He tugged on pieces of his own to illustrate the spikes.

Tempo glanced over to him, halting for a moment, before shaking their head and going back to work at the computers.

Well, that was a bit of a disappointment to learn. 

Riku knew it didn’t mean that Sora _wasn’t_ here, just that it meant it was going to take a little longer to find him. Hopefully this was the world he was on. No way of really knowing without seeing him or-

Riku frowned as he stared absently at all the computers. He reached his hand up to his chest, placing it over his heart. The melody of their song came to him, filling his mind and heart up with the melody he knew so dearly. It summoned up feelings he thought he should keep to himself and feelings of wanting to protect that which mattered the most to him. The song’s nostalgic feeling of the crashing waves and soft sands mixed with the beauty of the happiness he felt when both Sora and he combined their powers together.

Softly, the keyblade master hummed the song from his dreams and heart to himself. His eyes slipped close, not needing them to see. All he needed to do was let go and let the music find the missing half.

Riku didn’t know for how long he would have continued to hum the song, probably until he could feel Sora and find a way to him. That was the ultimate hope that he felt. But he found that wasn’t going to be what stopped him from humming and listening to that song. 

Because a loud burst of ruckus interrupted him instead.

His eyes quickly opened to see whatever threat was here, finding no threat around. Instead he saw the creature from before, standing on the keyboard ledge and bouncing up and down. It continued to make its usual off-key noise, though looking far more excited than it had before. Like it was happy that he was here or that it managed to find him here. 

Either way, Riku really wished it would stop making such loud noises. He covered his ears and glanced at Tempo. After a gesture to the creature and to himself, they understood what he meant.

 _This_ was the creature that had brought him here.

A quick look of contemplation passed over Tempo’s face, from what Riku could see. They got closer to the creature, inspecting it with a keen eye and even going so far as to poke its funny little hat that jingled with every movement. The creature made a laughing noise composed only of windy flute noises. They then quickly nudged the creature off the keyboard enough to type something into the computers. Apparently, the creature got the hint and moved enough away to allow it.

But its attention didn’t stay long on what Tempo was doing. Instead, it looked back over to Riku with a stare that unnerved him slightly. Its orange eyes held no malice, but he could not get a read on it. He sensed still no Darkness from it.

“Did you come here because of me?” he asked it, figuring that must have been it. All points led him down this path of relying on this creature to help him find Sora. Hopefully.

It nodded his head and jumped down from the keyboard. After a small bout of nearly tripping head-over-feet, it bounced on its feet with a "Ta-Da" gesture that finally cracked a grin on Riku's face. Seeing that, it danced around in a small circle and even began to make soft, stringy harp music. Its excitement even grabbed the attention of Tempo, who looked curiously at the creature as it continued its little dance.

Riku took a look at their face, soon seeing a look of as though they were trying hard to remember something as they stared at the creature. Then the look faded to that soft confusion as to why they were. It was a look Riku knew, whenever he spoke with those that knew but not had remembered Sora when Naminé was fixing his memories.

His hand itched to summon his keyblade. Not to harm, but almost the need to help unlock those memories. 

He was a Keyblade Master. Maybe there was a way for him to help them remember.

But, before he could summon his keyblade, the creature made a loud honking noise. Riku looked back at it, before watching it disappear from view with a cymbal crash as it did. Its departure startled them both, causing Riku to yell out a “Hey! Wait!” and Tempo to look around for it in their lab. But it was gone.

Just in time, apparently, when a man dressed as though he was a security guard for the building came through the doorway. "Professor Tempo! Sorry for interrupting your work. But there was a report of a sighting of two teens running around, doing Song knows what-" The security guard stopped mid-explanation as his focus zeroed in on Riku. 

The keyblader didn’t back down from such a stare, having faced far stronger opponents than such as this man. He also schooled his face in return back the hard stare. Riku didn’t know if showing the surprise that one of those “two teens running around” was Sora or not. He really hoped so, though wondered just what he was getting up to now.

Tempo frowned at the slightly hostile display towards Riku, before they held one hand in a fist with the thumb up and gestured up at the bottom of that hand with the thumb of the other in the shape of a pointed “L” shape. Riku still didn’t quite grasp the silent language but remained silent and even nodded when the security guard looked to him after reading what the hand sign meant.

"Oh, my apologies to you and your aide,” the man nodded his head to Tempo, before giving a nod of an apology to Riku. Riku nodded back, trying to keep up the quick lie given. “Anyway, I see they didn't cause any trouble here. I’ll let you get back to work.”

The moment the security guard stepped out of the lab, Riku took a step after the man. Maybe following him would lead him to Sora and whoever else was maybe helping him in this world. Of course, that would be highly suspicious of him, without having a story to tell like Temp had quickly provided him. 

His thoughts of what decision he should make was interrupted by a hand offering out a badge that read “Professor’s Aide” on it. Riku looked at Tempo with a slightly confused look, but they did not retract their hand. So, he took the lanyard and slipped it over his head with the tag resting against his chest. 

Maybe he should be wary of how quickly this person had offered this in order to keep the lie going. They didn’t exactly know him, at all. Riku also had no idea why they had been so curious about him or why he landed here.

But the thought of finally - _Finally!_ \- finding Sora won out above all of his worries now. Days of missing him clouded his judgement. 

So, without any more delay, he thanked Tempo quickly and headed out of the lab with fast steps to hopefully find wherever Sora might be. 

The halls were lined with doors and windows and spotless as a shiny coin. Hard to find a direction to go when they all looked the same. Riku tried to rely on his heart leading him in the right direction, but nothing really tugged him in his connection with Sora. Neither did that creature that brought him reappear to help him further. 

It appeared he was on his own, for now.

Fine with Riku, as long as he could find Sora and bring him home. He had wandered a year around, hunting clues and pieces of Sora’s memories. How hard would it be to find the bright Light his heart knew?

So, he took off in one direction to find out more answers to the world he was on and where his dearest friend was. No one really stopped him, at least once they got a look at the badge on his chest. A few still gave him extra looks even once they saw the badge. No one deemed him worthy to stop, yet. Riku didn’t want to take his chances on one of them doing so.

He had to find Sora!

Back in the lab that Riku had rushed quickly out of, Tempo had watched him leave with a studying gaze. 

Maybe it hadn’t been wise to give such a young person that badge, knowing it could result in dire consequences and repercussions for them. But he had looked eager to find something or someone once he heard there were others in the building, doing something, his age. Someone by the name of “Sora.” 

It really wasn’t any of their business what that young man was doing, though his sudden appearance was most curious. If what he said was true and what that creature -so unique, so different, so familiar- claimed to be true, then it would both their work to be true and applicable.

Their eyes darkened in thought before glancing away as they turned back to the computer, still playing out a few programs they had told it to run. 

Several of them were still doing so. Running with the information they had received and speculated on. A few had stopped and showed the results that made their eyes widen. The results showed the high possibility of the travel that Riku had spoken of, with music, being quite possible. All of their research had been pointing in this direction. Now it was starting to show the results they had been trying to prove.

Softly and to themself, Tempo murmured out to an empty lab -though that wasn’t so different than every other day they worked on their research-, "Interesting…"

Very interesting, and worthy a note to the Queen at what they had found.

~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~

_Remember to practice your tempo work.  
_ _The simple songs we sing in school help with that.  
_ _You know them all by heart by now, I suppose.  
_ _Remember those soft songs now._


	4. Chapter 4- Harmony's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the last two chapter were posted relatively together, and this one wasn't. But, that's what happens when you start writing a bunch of other fics during this time. Burnout hits hard, but I still have an idea of the rest of this fic and what is going to happen. Just have to have the motivation and no creative block! Easier said than done, but ya know!
> 
> I was going to have this chapter in Melody's POV, but I decided to scrap that after the first two pages of writing. I just couldn't really get into her head to write her well, so I just went with Harmony instead. It looks like the three main POVs for this fic will just be her, Sora, and Riku. Not that I mind, since I seemingly can write those three without any trouble.
> 
> Stay tuned for more, and leave some Kudos and Comments please!

“...a heartsong can be a good way to sense an intuitive response to an unfamiliar environment or situation. Not only would one’s instincts allow for an action or reaction to take place, but the heartsong also provides an additional understanding that there is something happening. As discussed before, what all is encompassed by what we know as the life music of a “heartsong” is that there is rarely any true limit to what it can _do_.   
The heartsong has been known as a way to recall memories, to express feelings, to channel creative skills, and even a way to interact with the environment and animals. To grow up hearing all these stories and beliefs of how the Song created everything, one can hardly doubt that “heartsongs” were not a way to become a part of each and every one of us. A way to harmoniously connect to Sound and Silence, and everything in between and together.  
A recorded case of a heartsong not being in tune or harmonious enough to play along with the music of the world has never been truly documented as fact before…”

- _An Examination of Heartsong: Their Involvement in Personal Responses and Development  
_ by Euterpe of Symposia-Minor

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

Harmony hated only a few things. She knew that hating things wasn’t always a productive practice. Things happened! Unavoidable things or events, which getting angry over wouldn’t help anyone or anything. She understood that and understood that sometimes there were parts of the Song that made it happen to change up the music.

But seeing Melody’s disappointed look made Harmony really hate the fact that it was there.

She could never hate her older sister, since she had raised her since she was five years old. But she also knew that today had been opera practice for Melody for her next show, which meant that Melody had to leave early and come here. Because of them. The reason Harmony hated in all that was that Melody was more disappointed in them, because they had caused her to miss practice. It was an old wound that would ache sometimes, being reminded how her sister had a career _while_ having to take care of her.

That reminder felt like another poke at the thought Harmony had time and again. That their mother had left because of something _Harmony_ had done.

She had been the one to see her last, even though Harmony had only been a little girl when she had. Not being able to remember what happened led often to nights of waking up and wondering why her mother wasn’t here.

It was one of the only things she begged the Song to help explain to her. Not that the music would really answer her. But Harmony wanted a reason for her mother to be missing. She felt the two great forces of Sound and Silence would know what happened, even if she had been taken by them. Music had a way to answer, she was sure of it! Harmony recalled what had been taught, plus her own thoughts about what the two forces _really_ were. 

That Sound represented the concept of “to create,” while Silence embodied the actual idea of “to be.” The latter she felt in her heartsong, rather than what she had been told. In the words of her teachers, Silence was usually given only the moniker of “to be nothing” or “the rest in between,” which had never felt quite right with Harmony when she listened. She never thought of them as true opposites, just a pair that went together.

However, even with those beliefs and questions, she still did not know what happened to her mother or why it had happened.

Now Melody was asking her why she and Sora had snuck in here, and Harmony couldn’t answer that question. The look on her face was stern, though it still begged for some answer. Harmony could see that her sister didn’t want to be upset with them, but she also knew that Melody _was_ very upset. Sora might not know the full reason why, the devotion that her older sister had to her singing, but Harmony did. So, she had to have a good enough reason for the other missing her practice -which really, she didn’t.

“We, uh- I wanted to show Sora around more in Symposia-Major. The twins had to leave to head home for a quick beat, so that left us exploring alone. Then I saw the Royal Scientific-Musicological Section & University campus and had to show him around there.”

For a moment, she gave both her sister and the head of security, who was an older woman who looked even less convinced by her story than Melody did, a sad look to make it seem as she knew she had done something wrong but with good intentions.

“I know we shouldn’t have snuck in, but he’s never seen the university up close. I promised to show him, which was all my fault.”

“It is, Harmony.” Melody’s agreement made Harmony frown a bit more in disappointment. The stinging hurt that her sister sounded like that poked at her heart with a dull ache that didn’t go away.

“You could have gotten in the way of someone’s research or, at the very least, hurt because of what you might have fooled around with.” Melody nodded her head with what the security chief had to say, which made Harmony feel even worse. 

Because her sister wasn’t on her side this time. The only person that was on her side stood next to her, and she had told him to keep quiet. Harmony hadn’t wanted Sora to take up any of the blame. He had only followed her here because of her obsession to find out what Syncopation was doing. His involvement ended there, at least that is what Harmony wanted it to. Now he was doing as she asked, keeping quiet and looking terrible for doing so.

Harmony couldn’t blame him for that, since it felt horrible as well-being reprimanded. Her throat burned with all the words she wanted to argue back with. But silence was her only option now, her only response. It always was her response, because after a while no one would or could tell her anything that answered her questions.

Her sister turned back to face the woman sitting at the desk, speaking with her about if there was going to be any punishments and if they had caused any real trouble. Harmony tuned her out, glancing absently around the room. Nothing in the office held any real appeal to her, not that Harmony had been looking for anything. Her gaze met Sora’s, seeing the furrowed look on his face, and giving him a small hint of a regretful smile on her face. It was meant to calm his worry, to tell him silently that everything would be alright. That they weren’t in serious trouble.

Even though now they were on a cold trail to nowhere after Syncopation and what they had been after.

That made Harmony turn her head away to frown.

They worked here, on some kind of project. However, what stumped her was _What_ they were working on and why they needed to know about what her mom had been working on. The memories of sitting in the lab, of her mother’s face, opened up a yawning pit in her chest. It hurt to think about, though still the reason rested just out of her reach. But, then again, being a child then probably didn’t help her in trying to recall what happened.

That last, clear memory of her mother was when the woman was giving her a soft, sad look before everything else faded away. It wasn’t the best memory to have of a loved one, but she held tight to it in her heartsong. Although, Harmony never could figure out just what that look meant. 

Had she been sad about what she was doing? Was she sad about leaving her daughters behind without a mother? Was there something else she had been sad about?

Harmony felt that heavy note in her heartsong over thoughts of her mother, feeling a dull ache in her chest. Even if she had been taught that heartsongs connected those had come before and would come after, she had always felt as though hers was just a jumbled mess. Not that she had told her sister that, though. A childish fear kept it silent from her sister, though she knew that she had told Sora a little bit about it. Maybe he really would be the help she would need to soothe the tangled mess of sound.

The security chief’s stern voice broke the ravine of thought that Harmony had fallen into, “Since no harm was done at the present time nor any real disruptions, as reported by the guard who found them and -ahem- the Silent Guard as well, they are free to go with you.”

At the mention of the Silent Guard, Harmony winced when she noticed how tense Melody’s posture went. Oh, that would not be a discussion she wanted to have with her older sister. Already she could hear the lecture pouring from Melody’s mouth.

“However,” the security chief continued on with a stern look to Harmony and Sora, “they will not be allowed back on these premises without a guardian watching over them.”

Harmony felt the rise of disappointment that that order now caused in her plans of finding out more about Syncopation. They couldn’t just abandon the idea of looking around for clues as to what they were up to. But disobeying and getting into more trouble, after what would be a talk of how disappointed and upset Melody was for both missing her singing practice and hearing them get into trouble, wasn’t something Harmony wanted to really do either. But maybe there was no other option for them.

Melody then thanked the security chief and agreed with her as well, “Thank you for that, and they won’t. I promise.”

“Alright, thank you.” The dismissal in the tone of the security chief’s voice told Harmony that it was time to go, along with Melody near herding Sora and her out of the office. Stepping out of the office first, both stopped walking only when a voice called for Melody before she could fully leave the office. 

“Oh, and Mrs. Melody?” 

Both glanced behind them to see Melody’s back facing them now. Harmony wondered just what the security chief needed to say more to her sister. She hoped it wasn’t anything else to give her sister more of a reason to scold them for what they had done. A bite to her tongue kept the spitting words from spilling out, eager to leave her mouth to defend herself.

“Yes?”

But the soft, consoling look on the woman still seated behind the desk made the snappish words shrivel up in Harmony’s mouth, especially what she soon said next to Melody. “I’m sorry about the loss of your mother. For you and your sister. She was a pleasant face around here.” The once hardened look of the enforcer of order of the building softened up minutely as she nodded her head to both sisters. She looked genuinely sad to have known what happened to their mother and for them.

Harmony didn’t know quite just how to take such consolation, but seeing the strained smile on her sister’s face caused her quickly to speak up for the both of them, “Thank you.” It was a rushed thanks, one probably not the most respectful. But staying there felt weird, awkward, in a way that Harmony didn’t want to confront right now.

Finally, they left the office without any more delays. Harmony felt eager, mostly to get away from the crawling sensation up her spine. It wasn’t that she hadn’t heard others give their consolation, but it felt even weirder being said here. By someone else who knew her mother, instead of someone just sad that she had no mother. It also stirred up the guilt in making Melody come here. Harmony hadn’t been thinking about her mother when she had followed Syncopation here, just after them to find out what they were doing. But now, being here, being reminded that this was the last place that she ever saw her mother-

“So, your mother worked here?” Sora finally asked. His soft tone of voice echoed along the pristine and empty hallway and did nothing to alleviate the guilt churning in Harmony’s stomach. He had told her several times that they shouldn’t just rush after Syncopation. But she hadn’t listened, and now they had wound up in trouble.

When Melody didn’t answer him right away, Harmony replied then, feeling a bitterness in her throat that she wanted to go away, “Yeah.” She could see how he was looking at her for something more, but, even if she wanted to, talking about her mother and this place didn’t seem right. Not with Melody walking with them after having got them out of trouble. Harmony didn’t want to further upset her sister by talking about their mother with Sora.

But, apparently, Melody didn’t feel as though she couldn’t talk about their mother. “She did. She mostly worked in- Well, I suppose it isn’t much of a secret, not here at least. She worked in the study of Silence, and the separation of Silence and Sound. She considered Harmony to be the perfect union of Sound and Silence, but she also worked to learn more about the Dissonance and a way to replicate it in order to further study its effects on heartsongs.”

She shrugged her shoulders then, not really looking at Sora or her sister as she explained. 

“Or, at least, that is what she tried to explain to me. I never fully grasped the ideas, already busy with my singing career, even at fifteen, to learn much about it before she...disappeared.”

Harmony bit the inside of her bottom lips and knew that, even with Melody’s voice calm and steady, the tense way she held her shoulders was not a good sign. She wanted to stop her from continuing. But the age-old feeling of being five again and being raised by the other for the next ten years cropped back up, making her feel as though she shouldn’t interrupt her.

“Harmony?”

Hearing Sora made Harmony tense up for a moment, before putting on a smile that she hoped was good enough before glancing at him instead of anywhere else down the hallway, “Yeah, Mel’s rights. Mom was really into Silence and Sound. She worked here, so of course she was. This is where all the scientists and students learn more in depth about all that.” She winced when she finished agreeing with what Melody had to say.

But really, what else could she say more? 

Melody hadn’t been wrong in what she told Sora. Their mother had been working on the principle relationships of Sound and Silence, at least that is what was told to her over and over again. It didn’t sound like it was just something told to her to ease her pain and answer her questions, but Harmony also felt there had been something more. A part of her heartsong knew that there had to be more! There was something in the melody that nagged at her to keep listening to find out.

But if Melody didn’t know or didn’t want to tell her, Harmony felt as though it was only up to her if she wanted to find out. That’s why she didn't add more stress to her sister raising her, hoping that maybe one day she would tell her more. At least trust her enough to know the truth.

But, as she glanced to Melody’s back as they continued to walk down the hallways, Harmony also thought that her sister just might not know either. She didn’t know which reasoning, getting it hidden or not knowing, was worse. All she knew was that it was up to her -and help from Sora- in finding out now about her mother’s disappearance and what was going on with the Heartless.

Walking down the hall led into the main lobby of the building. Just as the hallways as pristine without an ounce of fault, the main lobby shone with a subtle elegance. A sculpture sat the middle of the area in the shape of a swirl of musical instruments that was topped with a gold lyre. A few people, dressed in far from casual clothing, were walking about their business or speaking to one another. The lady at the front desk smiled pleasantly at them, which Harmony returned and felt awkward about doing.

But no one apparently needed to stop them on their way out. That was only a small relief Harmony felt after having been caught and having her sister come to take them home. 

They stepped outside of the building, walking together in silence as they had from the security chief’s office. Harmony wondered what the rest of this disaster of a day would be like, knowing that the twins would probably not be allowed to come over any time soon and she would be in trouble. Sora wouldn’t be in trouble -much of it, at least-, since he was a guess.

There was a calm, peacefulness in the courtyard outside Orpheum Hall, as well as among the rest of the buildings that made up the university’s campus. If it had not been for the towering skyscrapers just beyond the gates to Symposia-Major, there would be more of a sense of a sprawling town of elegance around. The shining roofs of noble houses and the towers of the royal castle could be seen at some distance beyond the university, but growing smaller as they headed away and back in the outer ring of the capital city.

Just as they passed a group of happily chatting university students, screams tore through the air like knives. All the peacefulness fell into chaos as people began to look around and then run away from a danger nearby. Harmony stopped to do so as well, wondering what was going on and feeling a dreading feeling crawl up her throat. It felt familiar in a way she almost childishly hoped she was both wrong and _right_ about what was making everyone freak out.

Soon enough, her hope was soon rewarded in the worst possible way.

A large beast on four legs came bounding its way through the courtyard. Its body stood at nearly nine-feet, with dark purple fur and bright glowing yellow eyes. There was a mark on its chest that Harmony couldn’t quite see fully, but she could hear how every step it took sounded more like a timpani being beaten. Hearing it made a shiver run up her spine and across her skin, feeling her heart beat in sync with that drumming sound. She wanted to run away from the creature, to get away from here like everyone else with more sense was doing. But her feet were locked in place as it swung its giant head around looking for something.

Then it raised its snout to sniff the air, before dropping its head and focusing in on them. Harmony felt those bright yellow eyes focusing more on her than either her sister or Sora. The beating in her chest from her heart took on a thundering pace as she mentally urged herself to move, to get away. Melody was there with her, and she knew she had to keep her sister safe from this creature.

It stalked its way closer to them, ignoring all who were hurrying and running away. A few shouts for guards, security, and protection echoed about the courtyard, but nothing dissuaded the creature from making its way closer to the trio. The sound of breathing from its mouth reminded Harmony more of someone breathing into a contrabassoon. A sound that didn’t quite sound right.

But, before it could get too close, Sora quickly moved in front of Melody and her. Harmony opened her mouth to tell him to “Run” before this creature could get any closer, but stopped when _Musical Union_ formed in his hand.

Even though she now figured out that this might be a Heartless, something else inside of her tugged on her thoughts away from that idea. Like before, during the previous Heartless attack, something was _wrong_ with this creature. Something Harmony couldn’t really describe but deeply felt.

But, before she could actually tell Sora to “Run,” he was already looking over his shoulder and telling them both, “Go! I got this!” That’s when he faced the creature once more and dashed forward to meet it head-on. 

His keyblade hit one of the front legs of the creature, causing it to stumble and steer off course to Melody and Harmony. But as it stumbled, it quickly regained its footing and growled at Sora. It charged him now, growling out a sound that reverberated through the entire open courtyard. Distantly, Harmony could hear the windows shake from the soundwaves.

But she wasn’t focused on the glass of the buildings but instead focused on pulling Melody’s arm to get her out of here. Her sister had a frozen, shocked look on her face. Harmony would have loved to tease had she not worried about this beast potentially coming after them. She believed in Sora’s abilities from him to be able to handle it until she got Melody to a safer spot before doing... _something_ to help him.

As she basically dragged Melody away with an iron-tight grip as she ran away, that was when Melody found her voice to ask, “What- what was _that_?!” There was a near-hysterical tone in her voice, that was battling with trying to make sense out of what she saw. But Harmony knew that wasn’t an easy task to do, since she barely understood what that thing was and what was going on.

“It’s a- It’s a Heartless, I think.” Not that she really knew what it was but safely could assume that some part of it _was_ a Heartless, at least. “But Sora has this! He can get rid of it and-”

A loud thud and a pained groan stopped Harmony mid-sentence as she was pushing her sister inside one of the buildings. She turned away from the wide-eyed look on Melody’s face to see how the fight between Sora and that creature had gone. What she saw wasn’t a good sight.

He was still moving -thank the Song-, but still lying flat on his back on the ground several feet from the creature. It then began to make its prowling way over to the downed keyblader, looking ready to finally end the fight. Weakly, the keyblade shot out a blast of fire at the creature’s face. All that did was make it shake off the flames and growl even louder at Sora.

Harmony watched this all with a muted horror, seeing her friend nearly underneath one of those giant paws. Her heartsong screamed at her to move, to rush forward, to HELP SORA-! It was too much. She couldn’t stand here and allow him to be hurt or...or _worse_! Harmony knew that she had to help him, to save him!

Before she even realized it, her brain had already told her feet to move. Halfway from where she had left her sister and to Sora, Harmony found herself running over with all the desire of wanting to keep him safe in her heartsong. Her heartsong was filled with the music of the desire to do something and the strength to follow through. 

Maybe she didn’t she didn’t have a keyblade or weapon, but Harmony knew that wasn’t going to stop her from helping him out now!

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, keeping her going even when she faintly heard her sister crying out for her. But she couldn’t. Not until she got Sora to safety as well.

What compelled her to skid and stop between Sora, still struggling to push himself up off the ground, and the creature making its way closer, Harmony wouldn’t be able to really say. All she could would be to tell the most classical and often childishly used answer in the world. But it is what she felt to do, holding her arms up as to almost take the hit for Sora. If this is what kept him safe, then she was going to do it for him. He was her friend, one of the few that she had. Losing him, not being able to help him get back home, wasn’t an option.

Because her heartsong felt that this was what she had to do!

The creature continued its stampede towards them both. Harmony stood firm where she was at, even when Sora began to tell her to get out of the way, to move, and to what she was doing. But she stood firm, and the creature closed in faster and faster. Harmony locked eyes with it, feeling a pull deep in her chest to this creature. She wanted it to stop, to stop where it was and to not hurt anyone. Almost, she felt the smallest fraction in her heartsong of a response. A small note that answered her back, though the beast of booming wardrums did not stop. It got closer, almost breathing on Harmony’s face.

Then she watched as a trio of golden bells attached to a long chain smashed into the creature’s face. It was shoved away and rolled on the ground. Whining sounds started to replace the mad growling, scratching at its face where it had been hit.

But, before it or Harmony could do anything else, Sora ran past her to land a finishing blow on the creature. Just before he did, she watched as its yellow eyes looked so pitifully up and soon at her. Harmony felt it was almost pleading with her now to stop it, to save it before-

 _Musical Union_ came down with a cymbal crashing sound against the creature’s head, and soon it began to disappear in a cloud of dark mist. Out floated a glowing, crystalline red heart, that disappeared into the sky as well. The creature was gone then, with almost a sad note that lingered in the air afterward. Even though it was gone, Harmony couldn’t help feeling a pang of sadness in her chest once more for the creature. At the very end, she didn’t think it had wanted to disappear or cause all of this mess. But why it had was another question added to the long list in her mind to answer.

As Harmony turned away from where the creature had been, hoping to not show her reaction to its disappearance, she tensed up when she saw who wielded the weapon that had knocked the creature away.

It was the Silent Guard that had taken them to the security chief’s office, B-Flat. In their hand was a flail where the three golden bells dangled on chains from. They looked almost proud of what they had done, but soon that pride morphed into a drawn look as their gaze met Harmony’s. Then they began to walk over towards her.

Once again, Harmony felt that frozen sensation in the path of some force. She didn’t move, but she did keep a straight back to make it seem as though she wasn’t afraid. Nothing that had happened now was her or any of their faults. They had protected people! What did this Silent Guard want or need-?

A letter was in their out-stretched hand. They stood there, waiting, for Harmony to take it. She glanced to the folded letter, then up to their face, and back down. Apparently, it was for her.

“Uh, thank you?” she answered back, reaching for it and taking it. As she broke the wax seal, trying to calm her racing heart when she noticed the monogram seal that was imprinted in the gold wax, distantly she heard both her sister and Sora call out her name. But all her focus was on this letter.

Harmony opened it just as Sora and Melody stopped next to her. Her eyes read over the words and sentences, almost not really believing what was written. There wasn’t even a whole lot written there, but it was enough to make her fingers clench the sides.

Melody apparently had been reading over her shoulder, because she was soon demanding to know what it meant from the Silent Guard, “Why do we need to go to the castle? We have done nothing wrong and-”

Harmony tuned her sister out as she reread the letter again. The words were the same, but still she understood nothing as to why they were there.

Written in elegant script and stationery were the words: “In due events and concerns, you are summoned to the Castle to speak on behalf of certain events occurring in the kingdom. Please, do not reject allowing the Queen to understand and help in matters of keeping everyone safe. Signed by, Lady Nocturne of the Queen’s Court.”

Harmony looked up from the letter, wondering just how what had happened before got all the way to the _Queen_! Part of her panicked for Sora’s sake, because she didn’t want to go back on her promise in not letting anyone know just where he had come from. 

The Silent Guard wore a waiting look on their face, before pointing to each of them and gesturing for them to follow. Harmony got out the first syllable of wanting to keep Sora from going, but they gave her a stern look that kept her just as silent as they were. They were then led out of the boundaries of the Royal Scientific-Musicological Section & University campus and into Symposia-Minor proper. Their path led passed gilded mansions and musicians playing delicate music on prized instruments and aimed towards the towering castle in the central point of the entire city.

Harmony glanced over to Sora, seeing him marvel over the sights but also noticed how even he looked a little apprehensive at what would happen next. He did not have his keyblade in his hand anymore, which was probably a good thing, but she couldn’t help but to feel a little safer with it around than not. But maybe the Castle would not sport monsters like that inside. At least, Harmony hoped not to see anymore anytime soon.

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

_I feel no ache or despair.  
_ _No need to weep and moan.  
_ _For what I do shall be known,  
_ _and my daughter will be spared._

_She does not know it now.  
_ _Nor will she know it then.  
_ _But I will do what I must, I know,  
_ _to bring the discordance to an end._


	5. Chapter 5- Riku's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually one of the chapters that I was eager to write about because of what happens within it! Some stuff is revealed, some stuff is still hidden, and there is still trouble brewing for everyone! I know the last one ended with Sora, Harmony, and Melody, but I had to make sure I didn't leave poor Riku behind!
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and leave some Kudos and Comments~!

_Play life's music sweetly, play life's music low  
_ _As demons once awaken come, in fast and low  
_ _Play life's music gently, let sleeping dragons lie  
_ _Play life's music slowly, be gentle on yourself  
_ _Life's music can be restful, life's music can be nice  
_ _Listen with an open heart and let sleeping monsters lie_

“Life's Music” by Margaret Roe

~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~

Finding his way through the near maze of identical hallways wasn’t not an easy feat for Riku. Trying to find where potentially Sora had been was like trying to find a certain world from just the abundance of stars in the sky. He checked a few rooms, glancing through the windows, and even asked a few people if they knew where the two teenagers that had been spotted had been. Most simply shrugged and said that they didn’t. Some pointed in a direction that led him further through the building without finding who he was looking for.

By the time he rounded another corner and stared down another long hallway that had a door at the very end, he stopped his searching and leaned against the wall. Riku hoped no one would bother him, because he was trying to think of a way to not continue on this wild chase. A chase after just the _possibility_ of finding Sora here, whether in trouble or not.

Now he understood how the other felt looking for him after waking up from the year-long sleep.

A pang of regret for the past settled in Riku’s heart, one he knew he shouldn’t let linger there. Things were better now, at least after dealing with Xemnas and the first Organization XIII. But now, after managing to stop Master Xehanort and his plans for Kingdom Hearts, he felt swept once more out to sea without any direction to go in. He was lost, adrift, in a sea of unfamiliarity. Even the Realm of Darkness held a better sense of where to go and what he had to do than here.

After pushing off the wall, Riku began walking down the hallway at a steady pace. He still looked in each of the rooms, though it felt pointless now. None of them revealed any clue or the whereabouts of Sora.

He felt so close in finding him once that creature brought him here.

Now it felt as though he was just as lost as he had been at the Mysterious Tower.

Riku stopped mid-way down the hall and turned right back around. No use going down this hall if it would just lead him around. A sigh slipped past his lips as tiredness settled deep in his bones. He felt exhausted. 

Riku would never give up the search in finding Sora, but he felt as though he was at his limits on what he could do. Finding answers, searching, traveling, asking questions. All of that added to the previous stress of the epic battle that would have and had taken place. All of that stress weighed on his shoulders, one brick after another.

Sora would have told him to relax, if he was here. Riku couldn’t help but to think that it was unfair just how calm the other could be -even within his own thoughts.

As he thought over Sora, his hand reached up to absently tug at the lanyard around his neck. If he couldn’t find the other within the next hour, he should return it back to Tempo. They had already stuck out their neck for him by giving it to him. He didn’t want to abuse such trust, even if he still wanted to search every inch of this building to find Sora, hopefully.

Riku pushed off from the wall and began walking once more down the hall on his search. His head would glance from one side to the other as he searched. Still nothing. He was starting to realize something, however, once he had managed to calm his racing thoughts about finding Sora here. Something very familiar.

Each of the rooms he had walked past held some musical or scientific or a combination of both inside. Some held labs of computers, while others contained cases of instruments. A few had people playing instruments while being watched, while others appeared to have a lecture going on inside. 

Even if they were less “magical” and more “scientific” -whatever the distinction was, Riku didn’t know-, the room in the Mysterious Tower he had found by accident looked oddly similar to some of these rooms. But that would mean that Master Yen Sid would have been here or trained someone from this world.

Wouldn’t he have remembered someone or someplace like this? Especially after they all had witnessed the musical creature together in his study.

Riku felt like he was being led down a path by an invisible hand. Something had brought him here after showing him that room and that creature. What that meant or why was still something he wasn’t sure about. But he would remain vigilant, just in case, in his search Sora.

A group of two people in smartly dressed clothing rounded the corner up ahead from him. They both looked a little distraught and talking between each other that he heard them quite well without needing to eavesdrop. Riku slowed his walking while their voices preceded them as they walked down the hall.

“Did you hear about or see that- that _monster_ attacking outside recently?!” the more frazzled looking one asked, hugging her arms tightly across her chest.

Her companion softly shook her head, looking both concerned and slightly intrigued. “No, I haven’t, Viola. What- Does anyone have a clue as to what it was?”

“No one knows, Piper! Just as quickly it appeared, it vanished!” exclaimed the first, Viola, and both walked past Riku as he made his way down the hall. Neither of them noticed him glancing at them as they passed, trying to figure out what exactly happened. “Then a Silent Guard came and escorted three people away from the courtyards into Symposia-Minor...”

That stopped Riku in his tracks, feeling a sharp tug in his chest. Quickly, he turned around and jogged back over to the two women still walking down the hall without stopping their discussion of what apparently just happened. His heart picked up the pace, feeling that now he was finding something out!

“Excuse me!” he called out, catching both Viola and Piper’s attention. As they turned around to look at him, he skidded to a stop, “Where did you say this “monster” was at? I- I was supposed to meet some friends, and I worried that-”

Viola gave him a look of concerned pity, reaching up to cover her mouth with her hand, “Oh no. I hope by the Song they weren’t out there in the courtyard when it attacked.” Piper nodded her head in agreement, giving Riku a soft look that expressed her concern as well.

“So, it was in the courtyard?” Riku asked, receiving a nod in response from Viola. That definitely would be outside of the entrance of this building, and he had seen signs pointing him in that direction while he had been searching. “Okay, alright. Thank you!”

He began to sprint off in the direction he had mapped in his mind. Maybe there would be a way or more people out there that had seen what happened and who had been escorted away. Riku felt his heart pounding in his chest, eager to find his missing friend and bring him back home. Even though running through the building probably wasn’t the most inconspicuous move to make, but he wasn’t going to let the distance between him and Sora grow any further!

Just as he headed around a corner with the sign that pointed in the direction of the entrance, a loud horn sounded just as the creature from before appeared right in his path. Riku stumbled to a halt, though he tried to move past it. It continued to block his path, even going so far as to grab onto his leg!

“Let go! I need to find out if that was Sora with them!” he told the creature, trying to shake it free from his leg. It hadn’t given him a reason before to be irritated by it, even though it had brought him here without saying what it was doing. But now it really was starting to test his patience!

A couple months of searching, and now one of his helps in a lead was stopping him!

He struggled to take a step, but the thing was a little heavier than it looked. It also continued to make random sounds that sounded like it was arguing with him. After another step that nearly tripped him, Riku stopped and glared down at the creature still clinging to his leg. It looked right back up at him with a sour look on its face.

A silent face-off now between the two.

It went on for a few moments, and Riku almost hoped someone would come by and give the creature a reason to disappear again. But, unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. No one walked down this section of hallway, leaving them alone in their stalemate.

Finally, what seemed like too long to waste time, Riku sighed and muttered, “Fine. I won’t go that way. Is there somewhere you want me to go?” 

He said it more as a rhetorical question, since the creature couldn’t speak, but found himself surprised when it nodded his head and left go. When it began to pull on the bottom of his shorts, he took a step in the direction it was pulling it. Once it appeared that he was understanding what it wanted, the creature let go and began to hurry the opposite way down the hall.

Riku paused for a split second and weighed his options.

He could follow the creature and see where it wanted him to go.

Or, he could ignore it and head to where Sora had been most likely.

It was hard to ignore the choice his heart wanted to make. Because losing this lead on Sora felt like an actually hurt in his heart. He wanted to find the other, see him again, and know that he was alright. To protect him from what he hadn’t done when the other left to get Kairi back. That regret still lingered, even after he had spoken with her.

But the creature turned to look at him as it walked away and almost pleaded with him silently with those large, glowing orange eyes.

Riku exhaled a deep breath and made his choice -that hopefully wouldn’t leave him feeling regret once again. He began to walk after it. Hopefully, whatever it needed to show him, was worth not tracking down Sora. There wasn’t really anything else he could think of that would be worth more but still chose to follow after the creature to where it wanted to lead him now.

_~ . ~ . ~_

Riku felt the oppressing feeling that he shouldn’t be here, along with a few other particular feelings buzzing around in his chest. They all vied for his attention, wanting him to recognize what they were. There was familiarity coaxing him with memories and mixing in time with the instinct to remain alert.

The room the creature led him to looked as though it could have been modeled from the one in the Mysterious Tower. At least, that is the sense that Riku got from it. The similar way that instruments were in display cases, along with the spread of them within the room. Other than that, this one looked a lot less cluttered as the previous room had been.

He scanned over the walls, wondering if those strange notes would be present here too. The walls, even in the dark of the room, were bare of anything. He even went so far as to start humming the song of his and Sora’s heart combined to see if it would get a reaction.

Nothing.

“What do you want me to find-” Riku muttered out, clearly talking to the creature that had brought him here. But, as he turned around to where he had last seen it by the doorway, it wasn’t there. He looked around the room, before he went to the doorway and stuck his head outside even to check to see if it was out there. 

It was gone.

Riku huffed out, annoyed, and turned to walk back into the room. He kept the lights off, just in case, so that he could search here in peace. Looking for _whatever_ that creature wanted him to find in here. By himself, apparently. Whatever it was, he hoped it was important or something he needed to find. Of course, it wasn’t really fair to gauge finding it against finding Sora. But desperation had long-since sunk its claws into his heart by now in finding him.

It took him a good five minutes, before he started to doubt that there was something actually here for him to find. He brushed a careful hand against the display cases and looked for anything amiss. But nothing looked out of the ordinary here.

Lastly, he checked the walls to see if there were any markings that he just couldn’t see in the dark of the room. He walked against one side of the room, running his fingers over the walls, and moved around to one of the back corners. Just as he took a few steps, his fingers brushed against a small crack in the wall. Barely able to feel it, but enough to stop him. Riku stared at the space, feeling the crack to get its shape, before lightly pressing the square that almost wasn’t really there.

It pushed into the way and clicked, soon causing a part of that wall to open up a secret doorway.

Riku had to admit: for a secret entrance, this was a clever one.

The secret door opened up to show another darkened room down a few metal steps, though he couldn’t make out really anything there. He could seem a few dim lights here and there, though nothing to help his adjusting eyes to see what was truly around.

Riku took a step down, careful to not set off any traps or alert anyone that might be hiding in the shadows. It was people he was certain that would be lurking in the dark of the room. At least, that was his thought until he felt a churning sensation in his gut that was very familiar. He could taste the bitter sourness in his throat, which soon crawled up his nose. Riku knew what that meant without seeing the creatures to verify it.

He took a few steps into this room, waiting for an attack. Apparently, a motion-sensor tripped from his movements and began to turn on some of the lights near the middle of the room. Only a few flashed on, just enough to encircle certain standing glass containers nearly as tall as the ceiling. There were cables attached to each, linking to a few computers he could now see in the dimness of the room.

But what really caught his gaze was the writhing mass of Shadow heartless in one of the glass containers. All their beady yellow eyes focused on him as they shifted and flowed about the encased area like a boiling stew of Darkness. 

That had definitely been what he had sense coming into the room, summoning _Braveheart_ just in case. Heartless rarely stayed in one spot if there was a heart nearby. He, however, found himself distracted not just by the Heartless, but also what was inside another of these glass containers.

A few creatures that looked similar to the one that had brought him to this world looked forlorn at him. They were similar more in the theme of something musical and brightly-colored. None of them actually looked like the one that had helped him. But, as soon as they spotted him, a few did bang on the glass, and the rest struggled to not be hit by those.

The next container to that one held something that made Riku stop and stare with a disturbed look on his face. He had seen things in his travels that were not pretty and would give anyone reasonable nightmares for years. The Realm of Darkness showed him the depth of Darkness that was not tame. He only kept himself being lost in those memories by will and the help of friends.

The next container proved that even he could be surprised by what he had seen among the worlds.

Inside looked to be a terrible amalgamation of a Heartless that had been fused to one of those creatures he did not have a name for. But it did not look right, in any sense of the feeling. It looked misshapen and wrong. It hurt to see it, almost pitying the Heartless that had been fused to whatever else to create it. Its body pulsed with a light in a sad rhythm, while it apparently was trying to make a noise. Riku heard nothing as he watched it.

While he did so, the thought of just “ _What was going on here?!_ ” flashed in his mind. This was not something he had expected following that creature, but it made some sense. Maybe it wanted him to release those like it, though he was wary to do that. He didn’t know if they were truly all as benevolent as it was. The Heartless especially weren’t benevolent in any sense of the word.

As he debated over the dilemma of releasing those creatures, a stranger’s voice came from further back behind him and interrupted his thoughts, “Who are you? And what are you doing here?”

Riku spun around and held _Braveheart_ up. He knew showing the existence of keyblades was one of those rules to keep the world order. But his instincts screamed at him to keep it up and ready. The Second Keyblade War might be over, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a problem of others who could be threats among the worlds.

Especially when he got the sense of heavy Darkness in this man’s heart. He could feel it even at the distance they stood at. Like a fester wound, it felt deep-rooted and not something recent. Whatever this man felt to cause such a presence of Darkness, Riku remained on guard for what might be drawn and spawned from it.

“Riku.” Riku schooled his face into a neutral look, still holding _Braveheart_ up and ready. “Who are you?”

The other man had dirty blonde hair, cold grey eyes, and sneer on his lips at Riku. “Someone who knows you’re not supposed to be here. Whatever you’re looking for isn’t-”

“I’m not looking for anything here,” Riku cut in, wondering to himself if a _Stopga_ spell would be useful now to make an escape without being followed. “But what you have there isn’t something you should be keeping so close to people. They are a threat to everyone.” He pointed to the glass container of Heartless within the room.

“Ah, so you know what they are,” the man switched from sharp irritation to almost an unpleasantly pleased look too fast to be a comfort for Riku. 

Riku watched as the man walked closer towards him, but soon veered away to a system of computers. Riku never stopped looking at him, following his every moment just in case. The sense of Darkness surged and reigned itself in. Riku felt his teeth ache with how saturated that Darkness was in the man’s heart.

“Yes, I do.” The man made a pleased sound at Riku’s answer, while still keeping his back still towards the keyblade master. “They’re called Heartless and are dangerous creatures that plague on the hearts of people. They’re full of Darkness and threaten anyone who has a heart.”

The man paused in what he was typing on the computer. A heavy silence settled into the air after Riku explained simply what the Heartless were. He didn’t make a move, wondering what the other was thinking about. Hearing about Heartless often confused most people from different worlds if they weren’t used to otherworldly travelers and the threat of some organization or maniac.

Finally, the man slowly turned towards Riku, with a face devoid of emotions, “Odd, they were never a threat to me.” There was a tone in his voice that set Riku further on edge, making him know then that this wasn’t going to be good whatever happened next.

His instincts were proven right when the Darkness he had sensed from the man finally began to manifest around him. Riku wasn’t afraid of the Darkness anymore, but he was apprehensive about what would happen next with this man. That much Darkness never brought anything good.

Soon, Riku found himself tensing up and blocking a strike from a Heartless that appeared in front of the man. At least, he thought it was a Heartless at first. He kept his ground and pushed the creature back, slashing at it to further create space between him and the creature guarding who had summoned it. 

Once there was some distance between him and it, Riku got a better look at the summoned creature and realized with a dawning horrific surprise that it wasn’t a Heartless. Not completely.

It gave off a sense of Darkness that he recognized from other Heartless he had fought in the past. But the way it moved and the noises it made coupled together with something nagging his thoughts. That nagging told him that what he was seeing was something new and unknown, like that malformed creature in the other container. But this one held a long musical pipe instrument in its hands that ended in a sharp point.

“Now, tell me more about these creatures that has invaded our world?” the stranger demanded, “They are annoying, not like the discordant nuisances that were first discovered. But they do help in drawing out the discordant creatures just well. Especially in people.”

Riku watched as a cruel smile curled up the ends of the man’s mouth, making him return a heavy frown on his face. Using Heartless to draw out something in people’s hearts? Nothing about that sounded good at all! It sounded like a disaster and cruel all wrapped up together.

“Whatever you’re doing with the Heartless, nothing good is coming out of it! They are a part of Darkness and thrive on the Darkness in people’s hearts! You need to stop whatever you’re doing with them!”

Riku watched as the man looked as though he did not hear his concerns. The man looked more annoyed he was being told that instead. Riku knew he would have to take out the Heartless here and hoped there weren’t any of them anywhere else here.

But as he took a step forward, the summoned creature raised up the pipe in its hands and blew on it. The resulting sound, an ear-splitting screech, drove Riku to his knees as he covered his ears to stop the noise. It bounced around his head, loud and unrelenting. Never had a Heartless driven him to his knees after just making a sound. But he couldn’t let it beat him so easily.

As he raised _Braveheart_ up with a shaky hand, Riku heard the other man say to his creature, “Maybe you are a useful creature after all. Very well, pacify him with your sound. I want to study his heartsong to see just how it has been affected and whatever else is useful in hunting down more Song-cursed creatures.”

The sound dragged out on and on, making Riku feel his head throb with each heartbeat. But he knew he wasn’t going to stay down so easily.

First, he managed to gather enough strength in him to keep his keyblade up and aimed at the creature. Secondly, he built up enough magic to cast a _Blizzard_ spell, just enough to stop the noise. Once it did, with the echoed shouts of that man yelling something that his ringing ears couldn’t decipher, Riku finally managed to cast _Stopga_ like he had previously wanted to. Both creature and man froze in time in mid-movement.

The ringing remained in Riku’s ears as he stared at them both, before he hauled himself up from the ground and hurried out of the room. He knew he shouldn’t be leaving those Heartless and whatever else that was trapped there. But he had no idea what was going on here and needed to get out to collect his thoughts. He hadn’t been prepared for a fight against a new type of creature. One that left him feeling a ringing in his head and an ache that was settling in his chest.

Thankfully, he had some clue where he was going through this building. At least enough to make his way through it and back towards his original goal of leaving through the entrance and finding out where Sora was.

He knew he had to deal with the Heartless problem, but he felt that getting Sora’s help would be a better option. That maybe he might know what those things were. It was a desperate hope that tugged on his heart and led him through the halls as though he was on a leash. The creature he had followed also never appeared again to him as he made his way through the building and out of it. But Riku didn’t focus long on that thought, quickly asking around those that were outside what had happened and the direction the three people had been taken away that he had heard about.

_~ . ~ . ~_

“What’s wrong? What was your message “An Intruder in the lab” about? Who was here?” Syncopation’s voice preceded them as they strode into the lab with their hands clenched together behind their lower bank. Their eyes first landed on the specimen containers; all of which were still intact and didn’t look tampered with. That was relieving to see. Once they reassured themself that part of their research wasn’t missing -again-, they turned towards Ostinato and waited for their answer.

Ostinato finished typing up something on the computer, something that made Syncopation further narrow their eyes at, before he answered back while keeping his back to them, “There was some boy here, a teenager named “Riku.” He told me about those shadow creatures. Heartless, they are called. Made of Darkness and are driven to those with Darkness in their hearts. It seems that we can use them further to drive out the Dissonance from people’s heartsong and destroy them. I already alerted the others to be looking out for more creatures and maybe a way to draw them to more Dissonance.”

Well, that definitely hadn’t been what Syncopation had been expecting to hear. It also wasn’t bad news at all, even though it came from someone sneaking into here.

However, the fact that someone who knew a little more than them was somewhere around the University or Symposia-Minor made them eager to find this “Riku” again and demand more answers from. 

Going to Euterpe’s family had proven nothing. While having her younger daughter follow them here and nearly being brought down here, she and that other boy was caught. So close in managing to really find out what she knew, instead of just hiding away such powerful knowledge that Syncopation _knew_ Harmony knew of. She had been the last to see of Euterpe’s work and her being alive for that matter. Of course, Syncopation should have known the security here would be a small hiccup in the piece they were trying to complete. But such a delay further irritated them.

But it might not be that way for long. Notes were falling together to keep the musical piece going in a way that was making them eager to keep playing.

They were distracted momentarily by the creature standing next to Ostinato, then looking at him when he turned around. Syncopation’s eyebrow rose in curiosity, though the sight of the hybrid wasn’t exactly a pleasing one. They could see where the shadows, the Heartless, had infused perfectly with the Dissonance that Ostinato managed to bring under his control. Unlike the one that was _missing_ , this one appeared much more docile and waiting. The sharpened point at the bottom of the hybrid’s flute didn’t bring them any further relaxation in seeing it.

But, as long as it obeyed the heartsong command of Ostinato, then it was useful enough to not destroy or keep it caged, unlike the failures before it.

“Catch him. He might be useful then. I already intended to present what I have found to the Queen shortly within the hour.”

Ostinato nodded his head with the command, almost with an eagerness that he had never really shown before when they told him to complete a task or mission. It was very peculiar to Syncopation but not enough to really question him now about.

Ostinato pointed towards the doorway and commanded the hybrid creature, the Heart-Piper, “Follow him.” The command was obeyed in an instance, though it didn’t actually walk out of the room. The Heart-Piper simply brought the flute up to its lips and blew. The resulting sound was a melancholic sound that hung in the air for a moment, before both the sound and the creature vanished.

~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~

_I am in need of music that would flow  
_ _Over my fretful, feeling fingertips,  
_ _Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,  
_ _With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow.  
_ _Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,  
_ _Of some song sung to rest the tired dead,  
_ _A song to fall like water on my head,  
_ _And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!_

_There is a magic made by melody:  
_ _A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool  
_ _Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep  
_ _To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,  
_ _And floats forever in a moon-green pool,  
_ _Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep._

“I Am In Need Of Music” by Elizabeth Bishop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I finally get to reveal the name of the creatures through this series! It has been a while since I started and, up until now, I didn't want to really say what they were. Not that it would have been much of a spoiler, but I figured it would be best to keep their name under wraps until someone said it in the story!
> 
> So, now you know the name of the type of creatures that helped out Riku and were combined with the Heartless previously. They are called Dissonance, and more to come about them~!


	6. Chapter 6- Sora's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was definitely longer than I expected. I had even planned on adding a few more things happening too, before realizing that it might be a little too much. So, I took of some stuff to add into the next chapter, just so that the transition would help explain what was going on with Riku's side of things as well.
> 
> I am also pleased that I finally introduced more of the royal court! They were another few characters that I had been eager to bring into the story but had to wait to do so. But now, here they are, and here more things are getting stirred up.
> 
> It's also looking to be about maybe five more chapters until this fic is done. Maybe. I have the outline written out, but there is still some stuff I have to add here and there. But at least I have a better ballpark number than I did when I started writing this fic.
> 
> Please leave some Kudos and Comments~!

_O Music hast thou only heard  
_ _The laughing river, the singing bird,  
_ _The murmuring wind in the poplar-trees,--  
_ _Nothing but Nature's melodies?  
_ _Nay, thou hearest all her tones,  
_ _As a Queen must hear!  
_ _Sounds of wrath and fear,  
_ _Mutterings, shouts, and moans,  
_ _Madness, tumult, and despair,  
_ _All she has that shakes the air  
_ _With voices fierce and wild!  
_ _Thou art a Queen and not a dreaming child,--  
_ _Put on thy crown and let us hear thee reign  
_ _Triumphant in a world of storm and strain!_

-an excerpt from “Storm-Music” by Henry Van Dyke

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

Meeting royals wasn’t a skill that Sora ever thought he would have. But at least it gave him some expectations on what he should act like and expect. Be it a crazed Queen of Hearts demanding heads, a merman king who loved his daughter dearly, a runaway queen of a frozen castle, or even the King that Sora had helped Donald and Goofy search for. Sora, at least, knew that the ruler of this world was important and should be respected, as anyone should be. But it did _mean_ something to be a leader of a people.

So, he walked confidently with the Silent Guard escorting them. Some of that confidence was to hide the worry he had. Exposing the fact of other worlds and keyblades wasn’t something he really wanted to continue to do. Already it was coming back to haunt him. 

Because he figured, if he hadn’t told either Harmony or Melody, then neither would be here at the moment.

Sora also knew that, had he not told either, then he wouldn’t know as much as he did now without their help.

At least the trip to the castle, since it was obvious that they were heading in that direction, wasn’t made even more stressful for them. The serene atmosphere of the inner capital provided some comfort, along with the beautiful architecture and music in abundance. A few people even nodded their heads politely in their direction and smiled at them, which Sora returned with an eagerness of friendliness.

At least for him it wasn’t stressful, given how Melody’s shoulders were stiffly tense and Harmony glanced around quite often. Sora wanted to reassure both of them that they shouldn’t worry, because rulers usually were good people and who did things for the best of the people they governed. He just didn’t want the Silent Guard overhearing him say that and question how he knew that.

B-Flat said nothing along the way to the castle. Even when they made it to the castle, they only nodded to the other two Silent Guards -if Sora had to guess by the similar uniforms- at their post. 

They stood at either side of two, large dark red doors, inlaid with golden musical notes and scores that swirled all around in almost a confusing picture. There was no real bigger design to all the smaller details, but there was also a harmony of all the designs. It didn’t seem chaotic, but perfectly created with a beauty that wasn’t just ordered. Sora wanted to ask about it, or, at the very least, take a picture of it -even though he still didn’t have his gummiphone with him.

Once the nods were exchanged, the two Silent Guards pushed open the doors to allow them to enter the castle. The three, aside from B-Flat, nodded their heads to the guards as they entered the castle.

Inside was just as magnificent as Sora imagined. Of course, that didn’t stop him from glancing around to look at every inch that he could see. He wasn’t the only one doing so either, seeing Melody’s and Harmony’s shocked faces as they took in the splendor of the inside of the castle.

There was a beauty that belonged within a castle, with marbled flooring and two sets of columns that lined a long, golden floor runner. The walls were made of stone of the softest cream color, adding to the warmth that settled within Sora’s heart as he looked around. A beautiful array of colors in portraits of all different subjects, musical and natural, hung on the walls in gilded, golden frames. Minstrels, currently not seen, played a soft melody drifting throughout the open space. Almost like the music was dancing in the air like a spring breeze. 

As the group walked along the floor runner, Sora watched ladies, lords, and all those else of the royal court glance at them as they milled about the castle. He kept his head held tall and shoulders back, which he saw Harmony give him a look of disbelief for.

“I’ve been to other castles before,” he whispered to her, getting an even more disbelieving look from her.

Of course, that didn’t stop her from lightly shaking her head and muttering, “Of course you have.”

Sora smiled back at her, hoping to cheer her up. At the very least, he hoped it inspired some confidence in Harmony to not worry so much about what was going on. 

Maybe this should be happening, he thought over. Rarely had rulers of the worlds he visited hindered him in finding the keyholes to the worlds or stopping whatever forces threatened the people. He didn’t think that the reason for how they got here was the best, but it felt more familiar than not. The hope that the queen of this world would be receptive of what he would have to tell her fluttered about his chest on nervous wings.

They walked past to massive staircases that led in different directions upwards, before approaching another set of large double doors. Once more, these were opened by the guards stationed there with a nod from B-Flat, and they walked inside of another room of the castle.

This one appeared to be the throne room. Sora could see the queen’s throne at the very end of the room, vacant and sparkling in the distance. He couldn’t see the finer details on it, but the musical motif was definitely noticeable even at the distance he stood at. There was a nagging thought in his mind to keep going forward to see it up close, curious to what it looked like. 

But that curiosity was belayed when B-Flat led them to the side of the room where another closed door stood. There was one guard, who nodded to B-Flat, before walking away from her post. When she did, that was when B-Flat took up the post instead and knocked on the door in a soft series of particular knocks.

From within, a voice answered back, “Let them inside, B-Flat. If you please.” Sora could hear a softness in the tone of voice even through the door.

Once the soft command was spoken, the Silent Guard opened the door for them and allowed them to enter inside. Melody walked in first, apparently wishing to lead them inside now. Sora watched as Harmony stared hard at her sister’s back before she followed her. He was last to enter, hearing the door shut behind him with a soft thud.

Inside this room was like being in a cloud illuminated by moonlight. Soft, glowing silver lights hung from the ceiling, while pale white tulle was strung between the lights’ chains. The floor was a plush, snowy white carpet that nearly covered the span of the room. Books sat on bookcases made up of only silver filigree in the styles of stars and musical scores. There was a large vanity table and mirror at the back of the room, while a desk sat near towards the bookcases off to the side of the room.

Sitting at the vanity was a woman with long braids of her silvery hair. She wore a dress of what appeared to be silver in color, though it almost looked lavender when the light hit it at different angles. She saw them first in the reflection of the mirror. Once those pale blue eyes spotted them, the woman turned around and gave them all a serenely, pleasant smile.

As Sora began to wonder if this was the queen, Melody and Harmony both stepped forward and bowed to the seated woman. “Greetings of Harmony to you of the royal court, Lady Nocturne.”

Sora jolted forward and did the same, now getting his answer on who this was. As he was bowing, he glanced upwards to still look at her. Lady Nocturne was a beautiful woman with a soft smile that made him relax even further in her presence.

“Greetings to you all as well,” Lady Nocturne answered back, her voice a soft, melodious tone that made Sora feel further at ease. After her greeting, she smoothly arose from the cushioned chair and waved her hand up for them to stop bowing to her. Sora still noticed how tense Melody and Harmony were at his side.

As Lady Nocturne walked over towards the desk in the room, almost appearing to glide across the floor, she continued to speak to them, “I do hope you were not troubled in coming here. I know it was on such quick notice and without much preparation, but time is essential in such matters.” She took a seat behind the desk, giving them a look now that was slightly troubled. “There has been news spreading through the court of creatures, _monsters_ , appearing in the major cities of the queendom. My Queen has her usual matters to attend to, on top of dealing with this recent news. So, I elected a small force to help me find answers to help alleviate such pressure for her.”

Lady Nocturne’s eyes glanced to each of them, a cursory glance that held no judgement, before she continued to explain, “I had no idea what I would be expecting to come from such a search in the way of answers. My heartsong just knew it had to help my Queen. But then came the worrying, but nonetheless fortuitous, report of a monster attacking the Royal University. I had sent B-Flat to go help protect the citizens there and to return with any more information about these creatures and what to do to further stop them from appearing.”

After pausing then for a moment, a bright smile bloomed on Lady Nocturne’s lips. “And now, here you three are!” The happiness in such an exclaim left the small group in a bit of stunned silence.

It wasn’t like Sora didn’t want to help this Lady Nocturne or the Queen of this world. He really wanted to, actually, since the Heartless showing up and those other creatures appeared to be troubling more and more people. It was his job as a keyblade wielder to help out the worlds, and he wouldn't’ forsake anyone either. But he also didn’t want to immediately butt into the political scene of this world without some insight from those that he had been living with these past several weeks.

But Harmony and Melody didn’t look like they would be answering any of his questions at the moment.

At least Sora knew that he could help them out right now, in a way.

Well, he _hoped_ that it would help.

He took a step forward towards the desk, hearing Harmony whisper out “ _Sora_!” as he did so, and spoke directly to Lady Nocturne now, “They, that is to say Harmony and Melody with me here now, didn’t have anything to do with those monsters. They have good hearts and would never want to hurt anyone.”

Lady Nocturne began to frown and look a bit confused as he spoke, soon realizing something, “Oh no, no. I don’t think any of you caused those monsters to appear here.” Her hand waved in the air, almost to wave away those fears. “Merely if B-Flat could find anyone with answers. I don’t think, no, I don’t think you would.” The smile from before returned, in another attempt to soothe down those worries she thought they felt.

Sora didn’t know if it was true if Harmony and her sister felt that, but he hadn’t really meant it to be accusing Lady Nocturne of accusing _them_ of drawing the monsters here. (Though he knew that the Heartless wouldn’t be lessened here now with him using his keyblade.)

“That’s good that you don’t think we would, but there is something you should know. Since you’ve been trying to find answers about those creatures and how to stop them.” A bright eagerness took hold on Lady Nocturne’s face as Sora mentioned “answers” in stopping the Heartless and whatever else had shown up. “I, well, I know some about what is appearing. I haven’t been able to really find out more of what attacked us _today_ , but I can explain what might have been reported earlier.”

Lady Nocturne gestured for him to continue, “Go right ahead then...“ _Sora_ ,” was it?” He nodded. “I would like to know anything you might know. The Queen will be grateful for whatever you might know.”

Just like before, he heard Harmony speak his name in an urgent whisper. But, this time, it was also accompanied by a hand grabbing his arm and turning him to look at Harmony this time. She wore a guarded look on her face, the first he had seen this severe. Maybe she didn’t trust this royal, but he hadn’t sensed anything wrong with trying to explain himself and what was going on as best he could.

But there was also something in her eyes, an anxious worry, that made him want to ask her what was wrong.

“Sora?” Lady Nocturne now spoke his name, and he looked over to her to see a confused look on her face. “If it really something personal that you and your family-”

“We’re not-” Harmony began to interrupt Lady Nocturne.

But it was Melody who verbally swooped into the conversation to help alleviate it, “I am worried what risk Sora might be in if he does divulge this information. I haven’t been able to even inform my wife where we are at now. I just wish that there is some way to guarantee safety for myself, my sister Harmony, and Sora.”

Sora looked at Melody, seeing Harmony doing the same with the same surprised look on her face. But Melody was only looking to Lady Nocturne with a schooled, serious expression. She looked ready for an argument or a debate in defense _for_ them all.

There was a pause from Lady Nocturne as she appeared to be thinking over what Melody had told her. “I see. Well, I do not wish to impose any threat against you or your family, if there is one to be with telling me some truths. However, I am greatly concerned on what the implication means to be a threat to you in telling me what you know.” Her tone, still soft and pleasant, took on a sterner note in her voice as she spoke to Melody and them.

“But maybe,” now the tone mellowed back out into some softer, “there is something to fear now. Alright. I grant you that your family will be protected, even if what you have to say might not be of much help. I promise you that, of her Majesty’s court and as her consort.”

Lady Nocturne then raised her hand up, putting it over her heart. She looked solemn in doing so and showed nothing but a steady, unwavering truth in her facial expression as she did.

“By my heartsong, I will swear to it.”

Sora could feel some of the tension in the room lessen just by Lady Nocturne speaking that oath. It appeared to settle some of the worries felt by Harmony and Melody, who both looked slightly more at ease. He could still see that they weren’t fully relaxed, or as much as he was right now. But he hoped that, with his explanation of the Heartless, then they wouldn’t have to worry. Sora still could keep them safe, as a good friend should.

“There are creatures of Darkness called “Heartless” that invade worlds to take the hearts of anyone and everyone. I...have a weapon that can defeat the heartless, and I’ve been doing so since I’ve been here. But those other creatures, I have no idea what they are. What I do know is that they are, somehow, fused with Heartless.

“And that’s really not a good thing.”

Sora had watched Lady Nocturne’s reaction through his brief explanation, keeping the knowledge of keyblades and the fact that he didn’t necessarily come from this world. But he figured it would be enough in telling her what was most important.

That he was here, by however means that had come about, and could help keep people safe.

“Oh, that is troubling information,” Lady Nocturne remarked, a worried look on her face as she still took in such information. A brief look of deep thought passed over her face, before looking back at Sora, “But I am so glad to finally have some knowledge. Professor Syncopation has been monitoring some “anomalies,” as they have put it. But nothing enough to really go on.”

Sora couldn’t stop himself from stiffening up at the mention of Syncopation and wanted to look to Harmony. To gauge her reaction and to share the thoughts of what they had done earlier today that had eventually led them here -in part, due to Syncopation.

Thankfully, Lady Nocturne took no notice of his reaction, standing up from her desk and speaking once again, “I shall go inform Her Majesty at once. She might want to speak with you as well. Even though I know she will trust my word, I think it might be good that she hears it from you as well.” She didn’t give them any time to argue against meeting the Queen, already walking around her desk and towards the door.

Sora watched and wondered if he should tell her that Melody and Harmony should go. They weren’t involved with this. At least, he would say they weren’t, since it was partly true. Housing him when he needed a place to stay and helping him figure out a way back to his friends weren’t really involvement, more like being good friends. Because they were his friends and still a part of this world, Sora would rather not drag them further into matters that weren’t strictly from this world.

But just as he was about to tell Lady Nocturne that, Melody spoke up first, “Lady Nocturne, a moment, please.”

Lady Nocturne stopped just as she was about to open the door up, turning to Melody, “Yes?”

Sora watched as Melody’s hands clenched and unclenched at her sides as she asked the lady, “May I call my wife? At least to tell her where I am at, and that there isn’t any trouble going on with my sister and Sora here. She’ll be worried if she doesn’t hear from me.”

Lady Nocturne took a moment to ponder over the request, before she nodded her head. “Yes, of course. Now, if you’ll excuse me. Also, please remain in here until you are called before Her Majesty.”

With those parting words, Lady Nocturne left the room. It was quiet, almost eerily so with no noise from outside the room leaking in. The room, however, did not remain quiet for long. Sora watched as Melody pulled out a phone and stepped further away from Harmony and himself. He could see Harmony watching her sister out of the corner of his eyes, though they both kept quiet as Melody began speaking to Symphony.

At first, it was soft reassuring words, sometimes hurried out as though Symphony was going to jump through the phone. But then Sora watched how tense the other became with each second as she spoke to her wife. It churned up the guilt in his stomach for being at fault in causing it.

With that guilt distracting him, Sora found himself surprised and nearly tripping over his feet as Harmony pulled on his arm to drag him further to the opposite side of the room.

“H-Harmony? What is-” he began, before being shushed by her. Her eyes darted past him, obviously looking at her sister, before they met his once more.

“Listen, whatever happens, just…” Harmony began, her words coming out fast before she took a deep breath, “sometimes silence isn’t so bad to do. It doesn’t need to be filled up with sound in order to “be” something. It’s already what it is. A rest.”

Sora really hadn’t expected her to say something like that. His face showed his confusion, causing Harmony to let out a long sigh and to roll her eyes. Whatever he wasn't getting from her words obviously made sense to her. But he still didn’t quite understand the importance of music and what it meant with Sound, Silence, and the Song. He understood, somewhat, that it was like the powers of Light and Darkness, but still something that was unknown to him as Nothingness was. Sora wanted to understand it better, although. For all the time he had been here, living with Harmony and her family, and being friends with her, Sora felt that it was something he should have tried harder to understand.

Maybe it would have helped him in order to find a way back to his friends faster.

But then he would have left Harmony faster, wouldn’t he have?

The thought of doing that sat ill in his chest. Even though he knew he could easily come back in a gummi ship, the thought of leaving Harmony behind felt terrible. Maybe it was because of how long he had stayed here, longer than most time he had spent on other worlds, or that he could see she was lonely. Whatever the reason, Sora knew that what he was doing now and would do would impact her, nearly as much as himself.

So, thinking over her words and hoping he found what she was trying to hint at, Sora nodded his head and answered her back, “I understand. I don’t want you or your sister and your family to get dragged further into this. I’ll try my best to keep you all safe, though I can’t say that I can keep silent about the Heartless or my keyblade.”

Harmony let out a long sigh, shifting from one foot to the other and crossing her arms over her chest, “I...should have figured that much. Alright. Just, Sora?”

“Hmm?”

Her dark brown eyes were focused hard on him, not wavering as he met the gaze. “Stay safe as well. Remember to listen to your heartsong too.”

He nodded his head, flashing a bright smile that he hoped would reassure her. “Thanks, and I will.”

Harmony didn’t immediately return the smile, though eventually her lips quirked up into a small smile. She shook her head, as though what he had said was funny. Sora didn’t mind that she found it funny, since it at least caused some amusement. She had been so tense before. It was the least he could do to help her unstress.

A loud exhale drew both their attention away and to Melody, who apparently was finished with her conversation with Symphony. The moment before she looked over at them, Sora saw how upset she looked. He wished he could help her just as he helped Harmony, but that look left Melody’s face the moment she glanced over at them. Apparently, whatever she had been feeling and discussing with her wife, she didn’t want them to know.

Harmony still tried to ask about it. “What’s up with Symph’ and-”

But she didn’t get further than that.

“Symphony will join us after all this is settled. She’ll meet us outside the gates of Symposia-Minor, and we’ll all head home. I want to get an explanation then, from you two.”

Any more questions about the conversation Melody had with her wife was cut short when the door opened back up. This time B-Flat stood in the doorway and beckoned them out of the room with silent hand gestures. 

It appeared it was time to meet the queen.

Sora walked towards the opened doorway, hearing Melody and Harmony following a few steps behind him. He flashed a bright grin over his shoulders, something to help ease their worries. This was probably the easiest part now to deal with, not that he had been able to tell them that. But he would take to heart what Harmony warned about. Just to discuss the Heartless and his keyblade, nothing more about the many worlds and what all he had told Harmony and her family about. If they were questioned, he would lie for them. Even though he didn’t prefer to lie, he would keep his promise in keeping them safe.

They stepped from the room they had found Lady Nocturne in back into the throne room. More Silent Guard stood about the room, all standing at attention and watching them as they walked towards the middle of the room and to the throne now instead of to the doors they had entered earlier. All eyes of the guards were on them as they walked to stand before the throne, stopping at a safe distance from the woman seated now in the once-empty throne.

Lady Nocturne, who had been standing off to the side of the throne, stepped forward with a liquid grace in her movements and announced to them, “Melody, Harmony, and Sora, may I introduce you three to her Majesty, Queen Ave-Marie of Symposia.”

They bowed deeply for the Queen, who still remained quiet as they did.

“You may stand straight now,” Lady Nocturne continued, soon focusing just on Sora once he straightened his back out once again, “Now, Sora, could you please inform her Majesty what you told me. She wants to hear your words and understand the truth that can be gained from them.”

He nodded his head in return, answering back a quick “Of course” to Lady Nocturne, before looking to the seated queen before him.

The golden throne did nothing to outshine the beauty of Queen Ave-Marie. Her dark hair was pulled up tight into the hairpiece she wore. Her crown hung around her hair, with two pieces that lifted up from the sides and hung bells that remained silent as she didn’t move her head. Her gaze held an unwavering gaze at him, not showing a hint of whatever she was thinking of. Her dress moved like fluid from her shoulders down to cover her feet. A beautiful turquoise color mixed with a soft spring green that reminded him of the sparkling ponds among the many islands he found while captaining the _Leviathan_.

She was a beautiful queen of this world. He also hoped that she would be one that would believe his words and understood that he was here to help out.

“Well, your Majesty, I know that there are creatures now appearing in at least Symposia-Operani that are a real problem. They are called Heartless and come from the Darkness that can lurk in people’s hearts. They go after the Light and consume hearts, resulting in more Heartless being made. Fighting against them is something anyone can do, but having a Keyblade helps a whole lot more.”

“And you possess such a weapon against those creatures?” Queen Ave-Marie’s voice held a serious tone that cut to the point and was deeper than Lady Nocturne’s voice. There was no worry on her face in being told such news, which was surprising to Sora. But he figured that she was just taking this seriously and hopefully would take him seriously too.

“Yes, your Majesty,” he agreed, soon holding out his hand. In a flash of bright light and the twinkling music as before, _Musical Union_ appeared in his hand once more. 

Of course, this also stirred some of the Silent Guard into action. A few moved in closer, silent in their movements as their namesake suggested, but were halted by a hand up from the queen. Queen Ave-Marie waved them away, apparently realizing he wasn’t a threat and merely showing her his keyblade. Her eyes stared hard at it, and Sora wondered if she recognized the influences drawn from Symposia-Operani. He could feel quite a few stares at his keyblade, but he continued to focus on the queen.

“With my keyblade, I can fight the Heartless and keep people safe.” Sora saw the queen think over such a statement. Before she could ask what had been mulling over in her mind, the keyblader continued to explain, “But some of the creatures that have been appearing are not Heartless. I don’t really know what they are, but I think-”

The sounds of the grand doors opening and a loud voice cut off Sora’s explanation, “They are coming from our very own citizens, your Majesty!”

Sora turned, along with Melody and Harmony, and watched as Syncopation continued to stride towards them, or rather the throne they stood before. They looked completely pleased with themself as they did, even with the rude interruption of what he had been trying to tell the queen. Syncopation continued to walk past them and stop further towards the throne and nearer to where Lady Nocturne stood poised with her hands clasped together. A look was shared between them, though Sora could see how the lady was not exactly thrilled to see the professor standing here now and interrupting.

“As I have detailed in my previous reports to your Majesty, these other creatures, the ones not of shadows and “Darkness” are, in fact, spawned from something within the heartsongs of citizens. These “Dissonances” are a threat to the balance of Sound and Silence and the Harmony of the Song. With the sighting now of these “Heartless,” I fear that the threat is now becoming less and less something to easily ignore.”

The subtle snide remark made Sora’s eyes widen. He almost couldn’t believe that Syncopation was so bold to say something like that to the queen. Lady Nocturne looked similarly shocked as well in hearing what they had implied. Her lips parted and closed several times, but no words came forth.

Queen Ave-Marie took the remark with an arched eyebrow and stare that was hard as steel. “I have read your reports, Professor Syncopation. I am not unaware of what you have been reporting and studying, however I fail to see how you plan on _alleviating_ the problem that you have been so diligently researching.”

That got a scowl in Syncopation’s face, which soon faded just as quickly back into a grin. They faced the queen now and appeared to be meeting back that hard gaze. There was a moment of heavy silence between them.

“I have been trying to get in better contact with you, your Majesty. But it is so hard to do so when your main focus and my colleague Tempo has been keeping you distracted with whatever uselessness they have thought up. Xi Rhapsody, your other consort, has shown more attentiveness than-”

“Get. To. Your. Point.” Every word spoken by the queen was sharp and curt. A frown now prominently sat on her lips.

“My **_point_ **is this,” Syncopation answered back, “is that these creatures pose a real threat, and the last recorded work dealing with such disrupting beings came from my former colleague and dearly departed _aunt_ , Euterpe.”

Slowly, they turned away from the queen, looking directly at Melody and Harmony -more so the latter- with a look that set Sora on edge. His hand gripped the hilt of his keyblade harder, wishing they would stop talking. He had promised to keep them safe by _not_ dragging them further into all this. But Syncopation had no regards against doing so.

“Who, just so happens, to be the mother of Melody and Harmony here,” announced Syncopation with an almost snide glee in their voice, as well as a smirk on their lips, “It is very promising that the Song has brought us all together. It surely is a sign of the harmony that is shared between our heartsongs to help rid us of these “Dissonance.””

“Why should we get rid of the Dissonance?”

Harmony’s voice was a surprise to everyone to hear. Her voice sounded full of indignation and demanding, especially with the expression that she wore on her face. She looked upset from what Syncopation had to say. Although, it was focused on the treatment of the “Dissonance” mention and not the mentioning of her mother. 

She glared at Syncopation, still waiting for her answer, before Harmony turned to look up to the queen as she addressed her now. “Your Majesty, we are taught the four parts of the Song. Silence, Sound, Harmony, **and** Dissonance. The unity of Silence and Sound created Harmony, while the separation made Dissonance. They are all connected!

“Are we to believe now from what Syncopation has to say that one part of that must be destroyed?”

Syncopation made a tsking noise in response, while Sora stared at his friend. He felt incredible pride swelling up in his chest at her bravery and strength to argue against Syncopation. He even joined at her side after the question was asked, smiling towards her in a show of solidarity. She wasn’t alone, even though he did not understand what she had grown up believing.

But he believed in his friends and supported them. He wouldn’t let Harmony be alone with what she had to deal with.

The throne room remained quiet for a few moments longer, before the bells on the queen’s crown twinkled as she moved her head lightly in a soft nod. A scowl formed on Syncopation’s face, though Sora grinned even larger. Harmony did so as well. 

The smile on his face did not remain long there, however. Not when he saw the queen’s face morph into a confused shock, as well as hear Lady Nocturne cry out in shock as well.

“What are those?!”

Sora turned and now saw the new intruders within the throne room. Heartless, though these were quite a mixed of Heartless now in a greater number than before. Sora quickly counted out at least two dozen of them. Some floated in the air, including several Sapphire Elegy, Grey Caprice, Red Nocturne, and a couple of Green Requiem. A few Crescendos bounced on the group, almost awaiting the chance to attack those with hearts. There were also some that Sora had no recollection of as well, that almost looked like marching band people, though as Heartless with the emblem displayed across their chest.

“Heartless!” Sora called out, dashing forward with his keyblade. He stepped past Melody and got into stance to protect her and everyone else here. At the two sides of the room, he saw Silent Guard members ready weapons similar to B-Flat’s and others he hadn’t seen before. But he hoped they wouldn’t get in his way in defeating them. A keyblade was the best choice to handle all of them.

Sora just wished he had some back-up with just how many there were here now. Usually he had Donald and Goofy to back him up. Now it appeared he would be alone to take them all down before they could hurt anyone.

No matter what, they weren’t going to hurt anyone here! Sora believed in that thought as strongly as everything else he believed in. So, he kept his stance strong and on guard as the first attack from the Heartless before him came.

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

_O Music, lead the way--  
_ _The stormy night is past,  
_ _Lift up our hearts to greet the day,  
_ _And the joy of things that last._

_The dissonance and pain  
_ _That mortals must endure,  
_ _Are changed in thine immortal strain  
_ _To something great and pure._

_True love will conquer strife,  
_ _And strength from conflict flows,  
_ _For discord is the thorn of life  
_ _And harmony the rose._

-an excerpt from “Storm-Music” by Henry Van Dyke


	7. Chapter 7- Riku's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The build-up and reunion in this chapter was something I couldn't wait to do. I know this isn't really focused on the Soriku element in the story, but it did make me so happy to write~ I didn't want to keep them from getting back together (even if they still aren't together...yet~)  
> Also more to come, though Harmony and everyone is going to be in a real bad time. Things aren't going to be good for everything, but that's how it has to go!
> 
> Please leave some Kudos and Comments after reading~!

_’T is you that are the music, not your song.  
_ _The song is but a door which, opening wide,  
_ _Lets forth the pent-up melody inside,  
_ _Your spirit’s harmony, which clear and strong  
_ _Sing but of you. Throughout your whole life long  
_ _Your songs, your thoughts, your doings, each divide_ _  
_ _This perfect beauty; waves within a tide,  
_ _Or single notes amid a glorious throng.  
_ _The song of earth has many different chords;  
_ _Ocean has many moods and many tones  
_ _Yet always ocean. In the damp Spring woods  
_ _The painted trillium smiles, while crisp pine cones  
_ _Autumn alone can ripen. So is this  
_ _One music with a thousand cadences._

-"Listening" by Amy Lowell

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

_ The concert is starting once more. All the notes are being played but in a different order this time. But this time, there is more at stake that cannot be silenced. Too much has happened and will happen. Will there be a harmony left for them or will there only be ruin? _

_You worry too much._

_ You do not worry enough, Sound! Have you thought about what might happen if the music is all playing inharmoniously-?! _

_Harmony, of the Song, you are about to hear what will happen. And yet, you worry?_

_ The Song- _

_Is always as it is. Allow it to continue, be it harmoniously or not. That’s how it has been. We shall see where it takes us, as we have since the beginning of the Song._

_…_

_See, even Silence agrees with me._

_ Silence never disagrees with you. _

_Untrue. But please, just wait and listen. There is more to come, more to hear. You will understand._

_ I hope that you’re right. _

_I hope so as well._

_…_

_No, I haven’t forgotten about them. They are going to finally come back to us._

_… … ..._

_~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~_

The sight of the castle in the distance was Riku's guide post on where to go. Castles were common among worlds as places of great importance, and he understood on some level that is where Sora would be taken to. Rarely did Sora not get involve on some level with the authority of the world -a fact that Master Yen Sid had repeatedly lectured against doing for the sake of the worlds order. He hoped that he would be fast enough to get there and to pick up the next idea of where to go.

Several, startled people glanced towards him as he hurried down well-maintained and polished streets between buildings of immaculate architecture. No one made a move to stop, no local law enforcer. They just watched and continued on their daily business. Riku also knew that maybe he shouldn't be quite so obvious, but time felt pressing right now. 

It felt like if he didn't hurry, then...he felt _something_ would happen. Something he didn't want to happen.

The delayed thought of " _What about the castle guards?_ " passed through his head, before Riku came to a sliding stop in the courtyard of the castle. He stared at the figure standing now in his way and ready for a rematch against him. Riku had hoped he wouldn't have run back into the creature in front of him, but luck wasn't on his side now. Raising _Braveheart_ up, Riku faced down his opponent with the clear intention of beating his way through and getting to Sora. Thankfully, the guards appeared to be giving them a clear berth. Riku was grateful for no interference now. This creature had brought him to his knees before.

That wasn't going to happen now.

Just as the creature, the Heart-Piper, raised its flute up to play, Riku unleashed a volley of _Dark Firaga_ at it. The attack drove the creature to dodge sideways away, leaving it wide open for another attack. Riku took that opening and attacked again with a closer attack with his keyblade. He swung the weapon at the creature with a strength built up over days of searching for someone who meant so much to his heart.

This time the Heart-Piper fought back. It swung the sharpened end of the flute at Riku, who parried the blow. The loud resounding CLANG made his back teeth hurt. It also brought him far too close to the creature, and the attack allowed him to be able to really sense what had made up this creature. The sense of Darkness was tinged with another feeling mixed with it. A feeling of sadness and an aching lost that made Riku wonder why that was. Along with _what_ it was too. 

Heartless tended to give off the hate, anger, malice, and jealousy that drew it to existence. That was the usual reason for its existence. Someone with enough negative feelings and Darkness in their heart called it.

This creature, however, almost gave off its _own_ feelings of sadness, of pain, and of a hurt that felt _achingly similar_.

But Riku didn't want to dwell on it nor did he. Doing so would leave him open for an attack, and whatever this creature was feeling, there was still enough aggression to keep fighting him. It attacked again, swinging the sharp end of the flute while blowing out a sharp note. Riku dodged the attack and back-slashed against it, but the noise got stuck in his ears and continued to ring.

The keyblade master grimaced, knowing that he had to do something quickly. Another sound attack would definitely leave him incapacitated like before.

So, as the Heart-Piper started to play another long, drawn-out not once more, Riku dashed forward and around it. The attack definitely surprised it, but he was quicker than its reaction. He struck hard, following through the attack with several more strikes that landed each time. Each time made the creature let out a sad sound of pain. But Riku didn't stop fighting.

One more hard hit from behind sent it stumbling forward and collapsing. The flute it held dropped to the cobblestone ground with a ringing sound and rolled away. Riku waited and watched the Heart-Piper, chest heaving after such exertion. The creature looked like it wanted to get up, before completely dropping to the ground. It remained that way until disappearing with the saddest, discordant sound.

And that was the fight.

Riku almost couldn't believe that it was done. Whatever it had been had definitely put up a fight. But that had to be done. He had to find Sora, warn him about those trapped Heartless, and get him back home and safe ( _with him_ ) with all their friends. Those thoughts bolstered his resolve and rewarded him with renewed strength. The keyblade master felt as though nothing else could stand in his way in finding his missing friend now.

Which came to a screeching halt when the castle guards started to make their way over with weapons ready in their hands.

Oh, this was _not_ good.

"I'm not here to start any trouble," Riku tried to explain, letting _Braveheart_ disappear from his hand. 

Apparently, that wasn't quite the right choice to make, as it made these two guards even more surprised and suspicious. Neither looked like they were going to take any stories he would tell them to get out of this. Both continued to hold their weapons ready, though one made a motion to "Come follow." Neither spoke directly to Riku as they stood there.

Riku knew he had two options: follow or run. One would definitely get him away from any trouble caused by his fight with that creature. The other choice quite possibly might lead him into the castle. He remembered the strict words of maintaining the worlds order from Master Yen Sid. 

However, that hadn't really mattered to him the moment he found a way to maybe find Sora.

He kept up his hands and nodded his head. "Alright, I'll come with you peacefully." 

The guards took his word at that, though still held tight their weapons as they allowed him entrance into the castle.

Inside was a grand interior one would have expected to see in a castle. It was opulent in a way that Riku found incredible on principle. He had grown up in an island for most his life and only recently visited a few castles. It still surprised him to see how they looked.

As they continued further into the castle, passing by two grand staircases that reached up to the upper levels like two pale arms holding up the castle, a shout came from beyond the two grand doors several yards in front of them. The two guards posted at the door and the two guards Riku walked with looked startled to hear that. The guards at the door hurried to open the doors to see what was going inside. Riku felt a bout of worrying curiosity churn inside of him. He wanted to know what was going on.

A part of him felt an itch to rush inside to see for himself what he felt he _knew_ what was happening now.

When the doors were opened just enough to see what was going on inside, Riku didn't wait another second before rushing forward. A few of the guards attempted to grab him, but he darted around their hands with a trained ease.

"I need to get inside! I can help get rid of those monsters!" he quickly told him, summoning _Braveheart_ into his hands as he dashed inside.

There before him was a large group of Heartless, ranging from small to person-sized in a group that was a good two dozen at least. Enough that would be deadly for those that had no real way to fight the creatures of Darkness. A few he knew how to handle easily, but there were ones he could not recall names to. No matter what their names were, Riku was here to stop them from hurting anyone here. As a keyblade master should do.

He also found out that he wasn't the only one wanting to protect the people of this world.

"RIKU!"

Hearing his name made him stumble out of his stance. After several weeks of not hearing his name from that voice, he almost couldn't believe he heard it correctly. Haunting dreams could not sound so clear like it had been, and Riku looked around with hope building up in his chest. He needed to find the person who said his name, who said his name in Sora’s-

“Riku!”

“Sora!” Riku yelled back in response, once he caught sight of the brunet on the other side of the group of Heartless. 

Seeing him made his throat close up around a tight lump and his heart hammer in his chest. All his searching, looking for Sora, had _finally_ paid off! He could see his childhood friend, best friend, so much more standing right there and looking at him. Looking at him and grinning that impossibly-wide, stupid grin of his. It made Riku’s heart do back-flips to see in person -somewhat- again.

Without wasting another breath to say the other’s name again -by Light he wanted to, so much-, Riku raised his keyblade back up in stance and met Sora’s eyes across the throne room, “Hope you’re ready, Sora!”

Sora’s brilliant smile filled Riku’s heart up with its brightness. He wielded a keyblade Riku hadn’t seen before.

“Ready when you are, Riku!”

They both darted forward to fight against the Heartless group like they hadn’t spent weeks forcibly apart.

Riku kept his focus on the Heartless he struck with _Braveheart_. None of them proved to really be that much of a challenge against his skill. After all he faced in the Realm of Light, Realm of Darkness, and the Dreaming Worlds, this was more like a warm-up for him. Of course, his searching had made him a little weak in reaction speed, but he didn’t need to worry about that.

Sora easily slipped in when needed, knowing when that was and leaving Riku to feel even more giddy to be done with this fight. The other moved in the fight like he knew him to, firing off magic and strikes like nothing. He also shot Riku grins that could have rivaled _Fire_ blasts at how warm it made Riku’s heart feel. His steps were light and familiar, and there was no doubt in the keyblade master’s mind that this was the person he had been looking for.

Who had taken on Xehanort, who had taken hold of the _X_ -blade, and who had searched for Kairi’s heart and brought her back.

Now the question remained in Riku’s mind: Why had Sora been here all this time, if he had been here the entire time?

There would be time after this fight to find out; Riku felt reassured with that thought. If not, he would make sure to get his answers. No force now, not Light or Darkness, could keep him away from Sora anymore. His heart pounded in his chest in time with that thought, of not letting him go once more. Their connection had brought them together once more, and it would keep them together through what would come next.

“Together!” Sora called out, bringing Riku’s attention over to him after he finished off the Heartless he had been fighting. He nodded and joined the other in dealing a downward strike to the last remaining music-themed Heartless. It could not last under such attack, disappearing and releasing the heart inside.

Riku felt his chest heaving with breath, realizing that it had been a while since he fought so many Heartless. He would have spent a few moments to remember when that was, if a body hadn’t crashed into his.

“Riku! You’re here!” Sora yelled into Riku’s shoulder, causing him to wince but still hug the other back. Once it settled that it was Sora and he was actually _in his arms_ , Riku hugged him fiercely and nearly spun them around. His heart was overflowing with joy.

He had finally found Sora! 

He couldn’t believe it! Actually, that was a lie. He could in the same way he could feel the Light in the heart so close to his. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind.

“I can’t believe it! You’re actually here,” Sora murmured into Riku’s jacket. He pressed his face harder, before he finally lifted it up to smile so brightly at him.

Riku found all his words silenced then. How could he say anything that could rival that smile? He could only hug him tighter and smile back, uncaring of the audience that they had gathered for the Heartless fight and now. All the keyblade master could focus on was the other. His best friend, the one he would protect from Nightmares and Darkness, the one meant so much and everything-

“I do hate to break up such a reunion that looks touching, but answers are needed. Now.”

Riku’s focus on Sora broke when he heard that no-nonsense voice speaking. He looked up, seeing that it was the apparent queen of this world who had spoken to them. A flash of embarrassment flashed through his chest, making him want to immediately let go of Sora to properly bow before her and greet her. But propriety wasn’t as important now as the heartfelt reunion, he felt.

Sora, however, felt a little differently, and he ended their hug with a sheepish smile given to both him and the queen as he faced her now. “Sorry about that, Queen Ave-Marie, your Majesty. It’s just that...well…” He shared a look with Riku, who knew just what that meant.

So, Sora hadn’t told them about other worlds or his friends from those worlds. Not that Riku could really blame him, though he did have to wonder how he managed on his own here without the other two half-pints. 

He watched as he glanced over to a girl around their own age and one several years older, before Sora glanced back at the queen and those standing near the throne. One mirrored the beautiful grace of the queen, but in a white and silver color scheme. The other wore a lab coat and had pale blond, short hair and a scowl on their lips. The latter took most of Riku’s focus, especially when they fixed both him and Sora with a glare that felt far more calculating than what he was comforting with.

Finally, after what seemed like the long minute of silence between them all, the lab coat-wearing person spoke aloud. “I see.” They drew out the sound, before snipping it off like a sharp cut. 

It set Riku further on edge with its sound.

“What do you see, Professor Syncopation?” the queen asked, keeping a steady, neutral gaze at Professor Syncopation. But their hands were gripping the armrests of the throne hard, leaving their knuckles paling under such strain. She wasn’t the only one tense right now, though everyone kept silent in her presence besides the one she had spoken to.

“The root cause for our disruptions,” Syncopation answered back with ease, gesturing their hand out towards Riku and Sora, “These two.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment after that announced revelation. Riku could sense several people looking towards Sora and himself, and he looked around as well. The keyblade master saw the two others that stood with himself and Sora looking at them both now. What he saw, besides the shock in their gazes, was a growing disbelief as well. Whatever had been discussed before his arrival obviously hadn’t been one that that answer fit for. Then again, he would rather not have Sora or himself to blame for something they hadn’t done.

Just as he was ready to answer back that they weren’t the cause for any “disruptions,” Sora was speaking up first, “What? But we didn’t- We stopped-”

The other teenager with them now shouted out, “You can’t be serious! Sora didn’t cause anything-!” Her hands were balled at her sides and a fierce glare given to Professor Syncopation. 

Whoever she was, Riku felt glad that she believed in Sora then. It definitely would help if someone from this world believed in them and spoke up in their defense. That usually kept them from being kindly told to “Leave” without much gratitude -not that he thought that ever happened much for Sora. There was also that fierceness in protecting and helping Sora that Riku admired, reminding him a bit like Kairi and those in Twilight Town. It also reminded him that, of course, the other keyblader couldn’t stop making friends. Ever.

“Really, Harmony?” Syncopation drew Riku’s attention away from Harmony back to themself, crossing their arms over their chest and gesturing more with their hands to accentuate their point, “Can you confirm that he didn’t? I have been studying disturbances for a while now. Now, with both his introduction to the Queen and his...friend here, it is starting to become clearer.”

Whatever “clearer” meant,” Riku knew that it wasn’t something that was actually clear or probably good for either of them. 

That prickling sensation was starting to crawl up his spine, like little ants. Pieces of this puzzle started to fall into place with an ill ease that Riku found himself thinking more and faster over. Something nagged his thoughts about this professor and that laboratory he had found, with the help of what he assumed now was a “Dissonance.” If that was true for all this, that meant that this professor was containing Heartless -not something anyone should do, especially since he knew Ansem the Wise had led to the destruction of Radiant Garden because of that. They were also experimenting on them as well, making more monsters.

Syncopation turned to Queen Ave-Marie, putting their hands behind their back and straightening their back, “My Queen, I hypothesis that these two here caused those “Heartless” to flock here in droves, driving the Dissonance out as well. It would make sense with the fights against “Light and Darkness” they talk so much about. They are the reason that we have this monster problem to deal with. They must help us drive the Dissonance away, as a service to the Song and keeping the peace!”

A stunned silence answered Syncopation. It felt like the entire throne room was hit with a _Stopga_ spell. No one moved. It was unnerving, because Riku knew he had to say something in their defense. For Sora’s defense. Whatever this person was claiming or thinking they knew, it wasn’t right. They were basing what they knew on too much emotion and not enough information. Neither Sora nor he would want the Heartless to come here, and if they had -which he knew they had- then they would fight against the creatures of Darkness to stop them from taking hearts. 

But Professor Syncopation was almost suggesting that they had to be locked up or something, because they were here!

“That’s wrong! You’re lying! Sora didn’t bring those Heartless here OR caused the Dissonance to appear! He’s been stopping the Heartless and, and…” The one named Harmony grew silent after her outrage, looking a little lost as to what to say next. There was a distant look in her eyes that made Riku slightly wonder just what she was about to say.

He wasn’t the only one. “And what?”

“And…” Harmony couldn’t meet Syncopation’s eyes as she tried to answer them back, “The Dissonance aren’t wrong to exist. They have a right to exist, even if they aren’t melodious or fit the harmony of heartsongs. The Song needs it as well, just as it needs Harmony, Sound, and Silence! You just don’t understand it!”

Riku watched as a smirk curled up Syncopation’s lips, making him want to stand with her as well. Sora was already stepping closer to Harmony, which definitely meant that whatever she was saying he believed her. If so, then he couldn’t stand by and just let him defend her against them.

“So philosophical for such a young age. I wonder where you got those _interesting_ ideas from. Did your mother tell you that?”

A glare was shot at Syncopation for that remark. “Don’t you _dare_ bring up my mom.” Sora chimed in with a “Yeah,” which soured that smug look on Professor Syncopation’s face just a bit.

Finally, the Queen cut into the back-and-forth taking place. “Enough, enough!”

The demanded silence allowed Riku to briefly think over the situation he had walked in and what to do. He really wanted to take Sora away from here, but it appeared that the other was involved in a way he wasn’t going to easily back out of. Typical, but one that Riku knew he wouldn't disrespect by demanding him to leave. It was clear that Harmony and him were friends. Being friends with Sora meant that he wouldn’t leave you behind.

An ache settled in Riku’s heart, not from the thought of being left behind but from _finally_ this stubborn bright heart.

He was still a bit lost, and nothing from the conversations taking place really helped. There were words, like “Dissonance” and “heartsongs” that did not make any sense to him. But it did have a musical quality that he thought might be related back to the “Dissonance” who brought him here. Maybe if Tempo was here, then he could have backed up with another subject of this world for their defense.

“Allow me to study them.”

Syncopation’s gesture over to them made Riku raise his keyblade. In doing so, he saw a few of the castle guards take a step closer and a frown appear on the Queen’s face. But he didn’t care much for their opinions of what he did. Riku wasn’t going to let someone _study_ Sora.

Sora had been studied, used, and hurt by too many people before. Riku was **not** going to let that happen again.

“They aren’t test subjects! He’s my friend!” Harmony took the words right out of Riku’s mouth. Without a keyblade in hand, she took two long strides up to Syncopation and stared them dead in the eye. Even with their slight height difference and difference in age, she looked ready to take them on: either through a verbal spar or something more physical.

Syncopation remained unperturbed by the teenager now standing nearly chest-to-chest with them, soon giving her even a smile that seemed as fake on their face as the words they spoke next. “Then come with us and see that I will not harm them at all. I’m sure we will all soon have answers that we need.” 

They glanced up to the throne, acknowledging the highest person of power currently in the room -almost as though they had forgotten all about Queen Ave-Marie-, “Your Majesty?”

The pondering look on the Queen’s face gave Riku enough time to feel uneasy and take a step towards Sora. While being right next to him, they shared a look. Riku knew that the other could see the soft pleading in his eyes that spoke silently “ _Let’s go!_ ” But Sora looked back at him with his own bright blue eyes and answered back with a look saying “ _We can’t._ ” 

It was hard seeing that look and knowing that there was nothing Riku could do to convince the other to change his mind now.

“Sora, this is your choice to make now,” Queen Ave-Marie finally addressed Sora, looking only at him and no one else within the throne room. Among the hardness of her face, there was a softness in her eyes that spoke enough to show she was not heartless or cruel.

“I agree, only to prove we aren’t a threat or a reason for bringing the Heartless here.” Sora turned his head away and looked to where Riku stood at his side. A smile was given, before he told him, “Sorry, Riku. For dragging you into another mess.”

The chuckles were light, but there was a pained note that Riku frowned at. He shook his head at the apologies, knowing that there was nothing to be sorry for. Even if he had just finally _found_ Sora, he would rather stay with him and help him than just...abandon him. He wouldn’t be that cruel -and couldn’t leave him even if he wanted to.

“At least I don’t mind helping you-”

The rest was left to fade away as Harmony’s voice rose up loud and full of concerned outrage. “Sora! You can’t- You can't be serious!” Riku watched her give Sora a pleading look to correct her, but he knew Sora far better. No matter what she said now or how sad she looked, once he made up his mind to protect his friends, there was nothing else for Sora to do.

Riku knew that Sora wouldn’t let anyone be hurt if he could be the one to be hurt.

“You’re actually serious,” Harmony breathed out, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Sora, you really shouldn’t.” This time, it was the other woman standing in the throne room. She looked similar to Harmony in a way that made Riku think they were related by close blood, and she looked just as concerned as Harmony was.

Sora smiled at them both and began reassuring them, “Harmony, Melody, it’s fine. Me and Riku, we can handle ourselves! Don’t worry, and we’ll prove that we are here to help.”

There was that smile again, Riku thought and watched as that bright smile did little to really convince Harmony and Melody of what he said. He knew it well, knew how hard it was saying “No” to that smile, and he knew that when Sora said something like that with conviction that he meant it.

Riku turned away from looking at that smile -harder to do this time, since it felt like he hadn’t seen it in far longer than a few weeks- when he heard the giant doors to the throne room open up. He wasn’t the only one to do so, though he wondered what the scurrying servant of the castle had to say. They hurried past those that stood before the queen to stand even further closer to Queen Ave-Marie.

After bowing low, the servant quickly informed the Queen, “Majesty, there is a visitor for Mrs. Melody here.”

In a whispered response, Riku heard a name fall from Melody’s lips. “Symphony…” He could hear a longing in that voice, knowing it keenly. He shared that feeling of speaking a name with such longing that it could only come out as a whisper.

The Queen must have heard as well and been struck by how sad Melody sounded, because she then suggested to the other woman, “You may go to her now.”

A look was shared between Melody and Harmony, silently conveying a conversation. Then they both looked to Sora, showing confliction on their faces. But it was Harmony who finally looked back at Melody with a resolved look on her face. What they had been thinking over was only known to them, but Riku could take a good guess given the circumstances.

“Go, Mel’. We’ll be fine," Harmony then told her. She added a soft smile in what probably was a way of reassurance. The look returned from Melody showed it didn't help much. But it was clear that the older one was thinking over her options.

Melody nodded her head once, coming to a decision that she still looked troubled over making, "Alright, stay here while I go get Symphony."

Harmony nodded back and watched her sister leave the throne room the same way they all had entered from. It was hard to tell what she was thinking over her departure. Sora looked troubled seeing Melody leave too, though he took a step over to the other to murmur softly out words that Riku could barely catch between them.

"We can wait until they-"

But Harmony didn't let him finish, whirling around and resuming her glare to Syncopation, “If he goes with you, then I’m going as well.”

Sora sputtered out several words, shock on his face, and even Riku was surprised to hear it. He was ready to speak up and say that was necessary. Both of them were trained and handled far worse dangers than what might happen here. The unknown element provided a few more challenges in what they would be facing, along with the Heartless, Dissonance, and that amalgamation.

Harmony stood like a statue as she waited to hear what Syncopation would say next.

The slow, slithering grin on Syncopation's face made Riku want to tell her not to get involved. Nothing good could come about that grin on their face. But it didn't faze her at all.

“Sounds all perfect to me, your Majesty. We are all in such a _harmonious_ agreement now."

“Agreed,” Harmony muttered out, still with some respectable tone in her voice as she still stood before the queen.

But it wasn’t agreed on. Not at all.

Riku didn’t want to bring someone else into this mess, and he didn’t really want Sora to go anywhere with Syncopation. He hoped that the look he shared with the other keyblader told him that there was something up. Maybe there was a connection here among their hearts to be bound together. However so, it felt like it would not lead anywhere good.

So, Riku stood at Sora’s side and followed after the person he knew was not going to be happy once they had to deal with the Heartless and whatever else they had been creating. They had to explain and prove Syncopation’s involvement, but he knew that as long as Sora was by his side, then it wouldn’t be impossible. 

Riku even felt his shoulder being nudged and looked to see Sora giving him a reassuring smile. The brightness settled some of his worries and reminded him of how long he had spent searching. He really wished he could wrap his arms around the other, hugging him until he felt assured enough that Sora wouldn’t leave. He couldn’t, not without telling them. Riku just wanted to finally be able to relax wherever they ended up staying for a quiet moment and maybe try to talk. Talk about what made his heart always turn towards Sora.

But not here, not yet. Not when they had a mission to complete on this world, apparently.

The group being led by Syncopation left the throne room through the large double doors, but, instead of continuing forward towards the entrance of the castle itself, they turned left and headed towards the wall on the side of the staircase. The question of “Where?” was quickly answered when the professor apparently knew a different way of getting into and out of the castle. None of the castle guards appeared to be phased by such a secret way, and Riku found that his instincts and opinions of Syncopation turning even more sour by the moment.

_~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~_

The moment that Melody saw Symphony within the entrance of the castle, she quickly wrapped her arms around her wife. It felt like too much was on her heartsong, the music weighing her down and dragging her further with it. Her wife didn’t know that, though, but she still wrapped her arms around Melody. It felt so good to be held by Symphony.

Melody couldn’t blame her sister, because they were sisters. She had to raise Harmony since she was five. Symphony and Orchestra helped, thank the Song for all the support they provided. But that didn’t take away from that, at some times, Harmony and her were as opposite as Sound and Silence. Sometimes, things could not be so blended together into a good song to sing together.

After lifting her head up from her wife’s shoulder, looking at that worried and beautiful face, Melody pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Symphony returned it, though the frown was still marring the kiss from being perfect. Still, it was good enough for Melody. Enough to calm her racing heart enough to know all that she had to tell her wife in person.

Once they parted from the kiss and before Symphony could ask what was wrong, Melody quickly began to speak all that was on her mind to tell, “Thank you for coming. I’m sorry I couldn’t explain much, but Harmony and Sora have gotten into... _something_. I’m worried.”

“What is going on, Melody?”

“Something to do with these creatures. One attacked us when I went to pick up Harmony and Sora from the University, which is another matter I didn’t even get to find out the reason for,” Melody explained, feeling a sourness creep up her throat, “They are doing something or getting into something, something that has to do with my mother’s late work, and I’m...I’m scared.”

Symphony’s hands began to rub soothing circles against Melody’s back, and she smiled at her wife in hopes of cheering her up. It was sweet and gentle, something that did ease Melody momentarily. But it was clear that none of her fears receded.

“Melody, whatever is happening, we need to stick together,” Symphony told her wife. Her voice was resolute and strong, and nothing in her answer wavered from what she believed needed to be done. She also looked directly at Melody, meeting her slightly frightened gaze with her own one filled with an inner strength.

“You’re right,” Melody agreed, smiling weakly to her, “Of course. You’re right. Our heartsongs, we can’t let us sing so out of sync and apart.”

Symphony nodded her head and smiled a little brighter in hopes that Melody would as well.

As they stood there together -with the double Silent Guards flanking the doors and keeping politely to themselves-, another person began hurrying up to the doors to the castle. Symphony and Melody broke their hug and moved to the side to make room, watching as this person in a lab coat -another scientist, Melody thought- make their way into the castle unimpeded. As both watched the figure’s back grow further and further away, a feeling was slowly creeping into their chests.

A feeling of apprehension and worry, leaking into their heartsongs to create a warbling note that was leaving them both confused. The wives shared a look, knowing that they were both feeling that in their heartsongs. Being songmates had its advantages in knowing and being reassured in love with another. There were also the shared sounds they could understand and hear, and this one was not one that they had felt so discordant before in their heartsongs.

Something in the music was souring and jarring on the harmonious sounds of their heartsongs. A note that was starting a concert of disruptive musical score.

_~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~_

Queen Ave-Marie slumped in her throne. No one present within the throne room, the Silent Guards and Nocturne, would never speak of this to anyone. How she felt her shoulders giving in to the weight mounting there. How no matter what, things were getting worse. They had to rely on help from people with strange weapons and the word of a professor who she did not trust at all.

“My love,” Nocturne murmured once she moved closer to the throne, reaching out to her hand to hold. But her fingers just barely grazed the top of the Queen’s hand, before it was pulled away quickly when the doors to the throne room were opened up. Nocturne stepped back, looking like the respectable consort she was. Queen Ave-Marie thought about her other consort, Rhapsody, and wondered where xi were at.

She had hoped it was xi entering, but instead it was another, who also made some sense showing up now after Syncopation made their display of knowledge and arrogance.  
  
“Professor Tempo, is there a matter to tell the Queen?” Nocturne asked once they had approached and bowed before the Queen.

When they stood up, a quick jerk of their head spoke that they were. Then they passed along a datapad to Lady Nocturne to read over, while they focused all their attention on the Queen.

Queen Ave-Marie gave them a look that was slightly confused and curious at their arrival, before she watched their hands make the motions of their explanation of arrival and what news they brought. It was rapid movements; most would not have been able to follow. Thankfully, this wasn’t the first time watching Tempo’s fast hands. Their presentations and studies often were not for those that did not keep. They had much to say about whatever they needed to convey.

This time was no different.

Once they finished explaining themselves and lowered their hands back to their sides, the Queen explained to them now, “Syncopation has told me-”

She was then cut out by a quick shake of the head from Tempo. The Queen frowned at the interruption and watched as Tempo began to make a few hand signs to explain themself. Watching them form the words, Queen Ave-Marie felt a sick feeling started up within her stomach.

They first rose one arm up in front of them with their hand held flat out, while the other like a closed fist with their thumb pointing towards them came up in front of the defensive arm. The next sign was their curled fists circling in front of their chest. The last was their hands in a claw sharp being brought up towards their face.

Once they finished, the solemn look on their face revealed that they had said nothing that wasn't both absolute truth and of grave importance. The "quarrels" supposedly between Syncopation and them did not cloud their judgment of such report.

Queen Ave-Marie felt a deep shift of notes in her heartsong. A shift she could feel leaching into the very Song that she, as Queen, was sworn to protect. Sound and Silence were part of everything, and she was the ruler of the people created by such forces. She and the line of queens were meant to be those that keep the Song going.

Now, something -or rather, someone unintentionally or not- threatened it more than she had realized. So foolish that she hadn’t taken them seriously, believing that it was just two teenage boys who could have been the cause. No, something else ran deeper in the Song for these creatures and the anomalies that were occurring now because of them.

“B-Flat." The called upon Silent Guard stepped forward and stood before their queen, bowing to her as the Queen spoke. “Escort Tempo to Syncopation’s labs, if that is where they went. Help find out and stop what they are doing.”

B-Flat straightened back up and nodded their head. There was a small reassuring upturn in the corners of their lips, a small hope to reassure the Queen. It could not be so easily returned by Queen Ave-Marie, who then watched as both B-Flat and Tempo leave the throne room. The Queen continued to sit in her throne, absently staring as her thoughts tried to understand her heartsong. Such a thoughtful ravine was only broken by the soft sounds of Nocturne walking to her side again.

“My Queen,” Nocturne handed over the datapad with a stricken look on her face. Not only that, but even Ave-Marie could feel in her heartsong was the worry and _fear_ of what was brewing in the notes of the music.

Queen Ave-Marie began to read over the datapad. Her eyes darkened further as the information churned up an unsettled feeling inside of her. She just hoped that her choice in sending B-Flat and Tempo to stop Syncopation would be enough.

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

_Music and friends_

_Feels so good to bring together  
_ _Music and friends  
_ _Side by side no one can break them  
_ _If we take the time to make them  
_ _Nothing else can take the place  
_ _Of music and friends  
_ _Nothing makes the whole world right  
_ _Like music and friends_

-lyrics from "Music and Friends" by Simani


	8. Chapter 8- Harmony's POV/Others POVs

_Oh no—that harp may all be rough  
_ _And grating to another’s ear—  
_ _So let it be—it is enough  
_ _That unto me it still is dear!  
_ _If, in the silent midnight, I  
_ _Have oft my weeping heart beguiled,—  
_ _If oft when gloom surrounded me,  
_ _My spirit o’er its strains have smiled._

-an excerpt of "My Harp" by John Rollin Ridge

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

The strength and conviction in helping Sora, since the beginning and meeting him, hadn't wavered in Harmony’s heartsong. It beat true and strong like a marching band that kept playing through the roughest kinds of weather. She knew she would never let Syncopation or anyone else hurt him just because he wasn't from this world. She promised to be his friend and stuck by that promise. Even as they were being led by this person who was not being anything truthful, Harmony kept her head held tall and walked with a purpose in her heartsong.

However, something did ache inside of her when she noticed Sora whispering quietly to Riku. 

They've carried on that quiet conversation since being led through the passage within and out of the castle. Something about the dark stone forming the tunnel cancelled out any echoes, leaving an almost muted sense unless you were near someone to hear what they had to say. But Harmony wasn't near enough to either to hear what they were saying.

Her chest ached as Sora and Riku lingered so close together, speaking to each other like close friends would.

Because she wasn't as close to Sora as Riku.

She remembered all the things said about the other from Sora. How he spoke with a sparkle in his eyes and such excitement that it had made Harmony hopeful to help Sora get back to Riku and all his other friends. Maybe they were songmates, like her sister and her wife, but those thoughts had been left inside of her head.

That feeling also struck another chord in her heartsong. 

Harmony hadn't let it show then, but it lingered. It lingered with her like a shadow that haunted her every step. Because she, even though she wanted to help him return back to where he belonged, wanted Sora to stay. Having him around, being his friend, it made Harmony desperately want to keep such companionship. Her heartsong croaked out a sad tune for such desire. It wasn't supposed to be like that, and she knew it.

It just hurt even more so now since she realized that Sora would be leaving once this problem was solved. That he would leave, taking away the soft companionship and the song of worlds in all his stories. That each sound that led her through her imagination and joy of being around him would fade to silence. Harmony would be quieted once more.

Maybe Rhythm had been on to something when they asked her if she was _okay_ before they had left to go home with their brother.

Because she wasn't. Her heartsong so out of tune left her realizing that being "okay" just wasn't possible now.

These heavy sounds in her heartsong and feelings caused her to miss the look from Sora. He looked at her with concern, reaching out to brush his hand against her arm to get her attention. But all that ended up doing was the desired effect with an obviously hollow smile. Sora frowned softly, causing the hollow smile to wobble for a moment.

Then Harmony slipped from the lightly placed hand on her arm and took a few, determined steps forward. Syncopation still led them, but now she walked between them and Sora and Riku. Her eyes kept careful watch at the professor's back and where they were going. 

If anything bad was going to happen, she would do her best to stop it. It was with those determined feelings that she used to push down the sadness within her chest.

Wasn't the first time she had done that. 

Practice makes perfect.

_~ . ~ . ~_

So, this was what had been the room the secret door opened up to.

The laboratory wasn’t as underwhelming that Harmony had tried to convince herself it was. Honestly, seeing now with Syncopation standing there with an eerie smirk at one corner of their lips, really put in perspective just how odd and worrying everything was now. She was glad that Melody hadn’t followed them here with Symphony. Harmony didn’t want Sora to be in trouble and less wanted her sister to be in the same situation too.

Sora started to stare at the glass containers that served as cages for some of those creatures he fought before. The look on his face, the surprised turned serious look, explained that that shouldn’t be. Not that Harmony would disagree there.

But then her eyes moved over to the other test containers and found her chest constricting.

Inside one was the Dissonance that Syncopation spoke of. But it wasn’t out of surprise or fear that she felt this way. She knew that for a fact on how she felt now. Seeing those creatures locked up, obviously looking scared themselves and wanting their freedom, she felt pity and sadness for them as well. They were probably all trying to make noises, sounds, to express themselves and get free. None of those sounds reached any of their ears now.

Harmony’s eyes moved away, apologizing in her mind to them that she was looking away, and felt an even greater feeling of sadness and pity for the one that wasn’t like the others. It was being kept all by itself in its own lonesome. 

It clearly was a mixture, similar to the few before that Sora had fought. But those also had been in Symposia-Operani and here in Symposia-Minor. That unsettled feeling of wrongness also settled in her chest like a bird in a nest. Syncopation was doing something terrible. They were locking up creatures that no business being locked up and experimenting on them. Harmony had a feeling something terrible happened to the ones that weren’t present but knew had existed at one time. She also thought about those forced to form a hybrid with the Heartless, who’s very existence was Darkness and a hunger for hearts and Lights. That amalgamation wouldn’t be good for anyone to bring about for whatever reason.

For what ultimate purpose was there in creating them or capturing Dissonance?

To “cleanse” the Song of the Dissonance?

That wouldn’t be possible, no matter what Syncopation did or researched. Not with Heartless and not with the mistreatment of the Dissonance they had captured. Whatever they planned on, it wouldn’t work.

“I won’t work,” she spoke up then, catching all their attentions, but the one Harmony stared at as she stood her ground was Syncopation, “whatever you’re planning. With the Dissonance, the Heartless, and the Song. It won’t work. You are going to harm it all for no purpose but a selfish one-”

“A “selfish” purpose? My, my little _cousin_ , I wonder if you truly don’t know or are just so ignorant of the words you’re speaking of,” Syncopation remarked amusedly, pressing a button on one of the consoles for the computers that sat in the lab, humming away. Whatever it had done, nothing changed within the lab, just yet. After, the professor turned towards the group with still that too amused grin on their face.

“What I’m doing isn’t something new or untried before. I’m just finishing up work that is very dear to me. And to _you_ too.”

“What are you talking about?” Sora asked on Harmony’s behalf, who was stunned silent for a moment. It wasn’t that she agreed, far from it really. But something nagged in her memories and heartsong. Something churning inside of her and bringing up a sickening feeling she had to swallow down hard in order to pay attention to what Syncopation said next.

“I only thought that I needed you two, because you caused the Heartless to appear. That much is evident, especially since you admitted it yourself. I hadn’t thought to use them, until I saw what they could do to the Dissonance. Then I realized that the corrupting sounds could be cleansed through that way.”

Their explanation still left the three reeling, though Sora attempted to argue against using the Heartless for any purpose. Even Riku spoke up as well, with a tone that Harmony could hear implied he knew of the consequences of such use. But their words faded into a static as the unrest in her heartsong grew worse by the moment.

At first, it felt as though the same. Unrest and dissonant heartsong wasn’t the worst thing to happen and could be helped by harmonizing it. It was a feeling Harmony had long since gotten used to. Ever since her mother disappeared. Telling Melody was out of the question, though she knew her sister would try to help her. To get her some help for her heartsong. But Harmony felt that the dissonant sound was her own still. She didn’t _want_ to have to harmonized. It reminded her of her mother more than her memories or heartsong could connect to. So, it remained. 

But the past few months had also added a new strain on her heartsong. With Sora’s appearance, it had grown heavier at times. Harder to bear the weight of such a sad song that she could feel so well as her own. It lessened the longer he stayed and as they became friends. Harmony figured it was because of Sora, that his own heart and heartsong was helping hers. Finally.

Now, however, she felt the pain growing in her chest. An acute pain that radiated above her heart and left her mind filled with mournful notes that lingered and echoed as though in a reverberating chamber. Every look over to the chambers containing the trapped Dissonance made the sound grow louder and sadder.

“What you are doing will hurt more people than help!” Riku argued back, hands clenched at his sides. Harmony could see that the keyblade he wielded was nearly summoned, only being held back by the strength of will he possessed. She also agreed to what he said as well.

“You know nothing of what I plan on doing or how,” Syncopation snapped back, soon soothing down her anger and glancing to Harmony now to speak to her, “As I said before, you truly are a part of this than you know. I only know just a small fragment, but now that you are here, I’m sure the rest can be brought to the light of Sound and of use.”

Harmony swallowed down the lump in her throat and shook her head. “I’m not going to be a part of anything you have planned. What my mother was doing, I...I don’t remember anything! I was a child! She left me alone, left me to be raised by my sister! Whatever she had been doing wasn’t worth that!” Her voice had begun to raise in anger, a hysterical tone that echoed in the lab. Even Sora and Riku looked to her with wide, concerned looks on their faces. But Harmony couldn’t stop the feelings that were pooled inside of her about that. About what happened to her and her family.

Syncopation rolled their eyes to such emotion, making Harmony feel even more angry and upset. They waved their hand, and soon another, Ostinato, came down the steps followed by others wielding small devices that Harmony knew exactly what they were for.

Just as she was about to tell Sora and Riku to run, the devices were aimed at them and a noise hit their ears like a sharp, piercing needles against their eardrums. It was terribly painful in ways that no sound should have been. All three gripped their ears and fell to their knees as the noise persisted. Even once it was over with, the ringing continued.

“You still haven’t figured it out, have you?” Syncopation asked, not really asking for an answer as they stalked over and loomed above Harmony still on her knees in pain, “your mother was trying to help _you_.”

Harmony jerked her head up, staring in disbelief at Syncopation. Her mouth parted open, ready to say so many things to disagree with such a statement. To tell the other that they were lying! But something in their face, something in her heartsong, made it feel as though the floor was going to drop out from below her. A feeling slammed into her chest, harder than before. The pain was so great that Harmony felt tears welling up in her eyes.

Because, even if she wanted to say that it wasn’t true at all, deep in her heartsong, Harmony knew the truth. That what her mother had been working on before she disappeared, had involved her, even if she couldn’t remember what it was about.

That was starting to change to more that Harmony confronted now, however.

Her mother had done something to her, had been researching the Dissonance and her, and had done _something_ to her to make her...like _this_! To have her heartsong ache and never truly feel harmonized. To have a feeling that lingered within her that never allowed her to simply be happy with what she had. Harmony felt as though her sister lived her life without her and her friends too far away. Sora and the knowledge of a much larger world she was not a part of all further drove that dip in sound of her heartsong into a mournful dirge of any sort of happiness she could conjure up. And all of it apparently hadn’t be “helped” by her mother and her actions taken.

“Whatever she had been doing,” Harmony found her voice, hearing how some of the syllables were a little louder than she wanted due to still the ringing in her ears, “it.didn’t. _help._ ”

Syncopation shook their head lightly, “You don’t understand the help she was trying to give you and all those afflicted with such terrible Dissonance. Here, allow me to help you understand. Ostinato…” They waved over the man who had come down with those machines over and waited until he stood at their side. The weapon was aimed at Harmony, meeting her eyes that were widening with a fast-growing fear.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, feeling a heavy lump of fear in her voice now.

“Don’t hurt her!” Sora cried out from where he remained still on his knees several feet behind her.

“Like I said and what your mother figured out,” Syncopation answered back, “I finally figured it out. Took me just a moment with you and what he could do to understand. Now, we shall all see Euterpe’s work at its successful finish with you!”

The weapon fired off the moment Syncopation finished speaking. The sound was localized to a fine shot, hitting Harmony dead-on. There wasn’t an actual physical hit to her body, but the moment the sound from it “hit” her, Harmony felt something terribly _wrong_. Her body seized up, like she was freezing up. Before she could think to stop herself, she listed to one side and fell onto the ground. Her heart thumped loudly in her ears.

**Buh-dah-dump-dump...Buh-...Buh-dump…**

**Buh-dump...Bah-dump...Buh-dump-dump...**

Harmony could hear Sora yelling something, her name and more words. She could also hear a more familiar voice of her sister and Symphony too. Riku’s voice mixed in, with Syncopation cutting in with remarks that went unrecognizable. All Harmony could hear clearly, in a sense, was her own heartbeat.

Her heartsong, however, had gone eerily _quiet_.

Slowly, Harmony’s eyes slipped shut. It would have easily looked like she passed out, but that just wasn’t the case for those that were connected through their heartsongs. They all looked to her silent, unmoving form with a shock that could not fathom what was going on with Harmony and her heartsong now.

_~ . ~ . ~_

The moment that Harmony collapsed to the ground, many things happened nearly at once.

Melody rushed over. Her arrival felt too late, even if it had been just seconds after she saw the weapon pointed at her little sister. Whatever it was had not done anything to hurt her, just left her lying there motionless. But that didn’t matter! What mattered to her was her sister, who did not respond to anything she said. Melody tried shaking her awake, calling her name, and doing all that she could. She knew she was breathing, but that was it. It was like, like… The last thing she tried was to follow her heartsong to her sister. That led to her finding the answer with a shock of horror that ran through her body. 

Melody gasped and nearly jerked away from Harmony; her eyes wide as she stared stunned down at her sister lying there. To hear no sound, no connection, no duet formed with their heartsongs meant nothing good. Tears formed in her eyes.

Sora had tried to stop the blast from that machine, pushing himself up and summoning _Musical Union_ as he did. But he was too late, watching Harmony fall over and remain laying on the ground unmoving. When Melody rushed over, that’s when he got up finally to his feet again. Even though his ears still rung heavily with the sound that had hit them previously, he would defend his friends. He wouldn’t let that happen again! Sora stood in a guarding defense, glaring now at Syncopation.

“What did you do to her?!” he demanded, tightening his grip on his keyblade as he waited for the answer. He felt Riku move into place next to him, _Braveheart_ ready in his hands as well.

“I simply finished what Euterpe could not. By Silencing Harmony’s heartsong completely now, in order to correct it. No more Dissonance. Just a fresh new start,” they answered back, sounding so pleased in what they had managed to accomplish. And they were, grinning at the success that came with such a feat.

But all they received, instead of praises and applause that they hoped for, were glares and grief taking hold of a sister.

“Silencing her heartsong…” Sora repeated, knowing what that meant just by context clues and for what little he learned in this world. He raised his keyblade up then, pointing it directly at Syncopation. “Fix it. Reverse it. Now!”

The professor shook their head, and it was Ostinato who answered him back, “Why should they? Finally, we have a fix for such a pest problem of the Song. No more will it be afflicted by such off-set sounds-”

“You think silencing them helps? That someone doesn’t get the choice in that?” Riku asked, voice hardened and feeling for the one who had been hurt now. “Nothing you’ve said proves it is bad! Just that _you_ don’t like it!”

Syncopation frowned now, the lines of their face marring their features as they did, “You don’t understand anything. Look!” They pointed at the glass containment chamber for the Dissonance, which all had begun to writhe and press hard against the glass. “See! You think those should exist in our world? Would I speak the same for the Heartless in yours? I think not!”

After they finished and without realizing just how much pressure the trapped Dissonance had been putting on the glass, cracking sounds echoed through the lab. Spiderweb-like cracks danced across the glass, growing larger and large the longer the creatures focused their attacks on it. 

Syncopation yelled an order out at the people who had come with Ostinato to handle that and stop the Dissonance from breaking the glass and getting out. But it was too late by the time they yelled that out.

**CRASH!**

The glass shattered out, spreading across the ground in twinkling and scraping sounds that made several wince. Both keyblade wielders backed away from the out-flow of creatures. Some of them scurried away, some making their way aggressively towards Ostinato and his agents, and a few made their way almost solemnly to the two sisters. It was hard to pick out whether the Dissonance was actually a threat or not. Although the ones that were angrily hissing and making discordant noises at Ostinato weren't making a good case in regards of not being a threat.

Sora, somewhat, ignored the Dissonance going after those that had caused all of this, though he did share a look with Riku to help them if need be. They couldn’t let more people get hurt. He, on the other hand, hurried towards Harmony and Melody, kneeling down and almost providing a sort of barrier between the two and those Dissonance wanting to come over. 

But none of the creatures looked like they wanted to attack. Just all sad looking and making soft sounds that reflected such a mood. They would have kept moving closer, until they were stopped by a yell from Melody.

“Stop! Don’t come closer!” Melody yelled out, still holding her sister in her arms. Symphony placed a hand on her wife’s shoulder, shaking her head when Melody looked at her. “Symphony, I can’t let them hurt her anymore-”

“I don’t think they want to hurt her, Melody, sweet song. I think they want to help her.”

Melody didn’t look convinced. She held her younger sister in her arms, looking so shell-shocked and stricken. Symphony frowned at her, though keeping quiet for a moment. Melody then felt Sora’s hands against her arms, and she looked up to see his sadden face along with a small glimmer of hope as well there.

“I think Symphony is right. I think they do want to help us. Help her,” he reassured her as well.

“Don’t let them! She will regain a fully harmonized heartsong! Without their interference!” Syncopation yelled out, though stopped when _Braveheart_ was thrusted at their face. They glared at the wielder of such blade, getting a hard stare back. B-Flat stood next to Riku, holding their weapon and looking ready to use it as well, further irritating Syncopation. 

They huffed and continued to warn them away, “You’re ruining the experiment-”

“She is a person, not an experiment,” Riku snapped at the professor, keeping his keyblade raised high. B-Flat nodded in agreement as well, frowning at all they heard. When Ostinato tried to make a move, he quickly casted a _Blizzaga_ spell at Ostinato and those that stood with him. The spell hit their feet and froze them where they stood.

“You can’t let those creatures poison her heartsong or any song for that matter anymore!” Ostinato yelled out, glaring arm at Riku. There was no way he could summon the Heart-Piper after it had been defeated, though the darkness still lingered around him and within his heart. Ostinato continued to struggle to break free of the ice still encasing his legs.

But Riku had turned away, looking towards those huddled together and desperately trying to figure out what to do. He did notice, among the small crowd of Dissonance, a familiar creature making its way to the head of the pack and looking the saddest among them. It’s funny hat with bells on it drooped so low that it dragged on the ground as it made its way the closest to Harmony and Melody. 

Melody looked at the creature, ready once more to tell it do give them more space, but Riku spoke up then, “I know that one.” Sora and the couple glanced over at him with confused looks. “It brought me here. When I was searching for answers at the Mysterious Tower, it appeared and ultimately brought me here and showed me this lab. I think it might be the one that knows the most about what is going on here.”

When Sora looked at the creature that Riku spoke of, even though it still looked so incredibly sad, it nodded its head. It made a sad horn noise, reaching out then to pat Harmony’s arm. Even when Melody told it to not to, it didn’t listen. It crossed the few small steps its needed to remain at Harmony’s side, looking at her still with soft orange eyes.

A long moment dragged out, and silence reigned within the lab for that moment. No one dared to speak up.

That was, until, Melody broke it with the softest voice asking, no _pleading_ , “Can you help her? Please, I can’t lose my sister as well.” Tears dripped from her soft brown eyes, sliding down her cheeks and dripping down to dark the shirt that Harmony wore. “Please, help her. I don’t know what my mother did to her, but can you help her?”

The Dissonance that was so sad and so bold to approach nodded its head slowly. It still kept a hand on top of Harmony’s arms, though it did not make any other move just yet. Instead, it looked up to Sora this time. The keyblader met its stare, a little confused, but soon he seemed to understand why it had focused on him.

That, and the softest pain in his chest, a sad sound that echoed around his ribcage.

He had known since the moment he got her that there was a connection forged between his heart and Harmony’s. Their heartsongs had started to sing together, she had told him once before. What he knew by that meant he could help her. Would do everything he could to help her out now. She hadn’t deserved what happened to her nor did her sister or Symphony deserve to see Harmony this way. He would fix this, just as he did so before.

“Show me how to help her,” he then told the Dissonance, getting a slightly more joyous sound at his willingness to help his friend out. Whatever it would be, he would.

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

_This is the way of all amplitude: we need the brightness  
_ _to die some.  
_ _This is the way of love and music: it plays like a god and  
_ _then is done.  
_ _Do I feel better remembering, knowing for certain  
_ _what’s gone?_

-an excerpt from "Blues for Almost Forgotten Music" by Roxane Beth Johnson


	9. Chapter 9- Sora's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there was ever a part in all this series that I knew of from the very start, even before I had planned out exactly WHAT would happen, this chapter contains it. What Sora does and who he meets was planned out even before I started chapter 1 of Nascent Song. Because I wanted him to do something, go somewhere, and find out what had happened to him. And I finally got to write that! I think this is one of the longest chapters, just because I didn't want to stop somewhere and break the flow of what was going on. I am glad I managed to get it done in the few weeks I had been writing it.
> 
> Next chapter will be the last and the Epilogue. I hope to see you all there, and let me know what you've been thinking of the fic and the series!
> 
> Also, I just HAD to include that except at the beginning of the chapter. I knew it was going to go somewhere in these fics, but I hadn't decided WHERE just yet. But now it has, lol!

_Hello_ **Darkness** _, my old_ friend  
 _I've come to talk with you again  
_ _Because a vision softly creeping  
_ _Left its seeds while I was sleeping  
_ _And the vision that was planted in my brain  
_ _Still remains  
_ _Within the_ sound _of **Silence**_

-lyrics from “Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

Sora had noticed the dull, aching pain in his chest, within his heart, and managed to keep it from showing on his face quite well. He knew it concerned Harmony, wondering if he would have to provide a spot in his heart like he had done before with Ventus, Roxas, and Xion. That connection felt familiar, which is why he thought that. However, there was something else nagging his thoughts.

The moment that Sora agreed to help, a certain joyous hope lit up on the Dissonance’s face. Even if he knew he probably shouldn’t just readily agree to what it wanted to do. Already, he felt the looks from Riku but knew the other wouldn’t stop him unless it looked like something would actually hurt him. Sora also noticed the slight hesitant look on Symphony’s face, even though she had reassured her wife that the creature wouldn’t hurt Harmony. He doubted she wanted him to fully trust the Dissonance. They were slowly losing time to figure out what to do, if by how Harmony’s skin was slowly becoming paler with each moment she remained Silenced. But this creature appeared to know the most to help them out, or at least that is what he felt in his heart and believed.

It soon reached over to his hand, grabbing for it and picking it up to hold tightly in its own smaller hands. The Dissonance focused on his hands, apparently and surprisingly doing something without really making any noise.

“Sora, be careful,” Melody warned him, voice still heavy with grief she had displayed earlier. Her hold had not loosened from around her sister.

“We don’t know what it will do to you,” Symphony cautioned, soon speaking over the yells from both Syncopation and Ostinato with a frown at what they were yelling about, “Even if it doesn’t appear to want to hurt you or any of us, I can’t- I don’t remember anything about it. Whatever we knew about these creatures is, at least in my mind, fuzzy.”

Sora nodded his head, “Thank you for your advice, and I will. But I am going to do whatever I can to help Harmony. She is my friend.”

“And you never let your friends go,” Riku added, and Sora looked over to see a soft tilt up of the corner of the other’s mouth. But Riku was right. Sora knew he would never allowed a friend to remain hurt. At least he didn’t appear too upset with him for getting dragged into another mess, though they both knew that Sora never minded that. So, he smiled back before focusing back on the creature just before something strange began to happen to him and it.

There was a vibration that he could feel underneath the creature’s skin where it touched him. But he didn’t have long to think about that before he began to hear an odd noise in his ears. It grew stronger and louder, looking from the creature to Harmony and then to the rest of those around. It appeared that no one else was hearing such a sound.

It was a humming noise, drowning out anything else he could or would hear.

Until he realized that it wasn’t _quite_ humming actually. Instead, it was as though he was hearing white noise. Nothing. Every sound, even his own heartbeat, faded away into this noiseless droning sound. It frightened him, not really understanding what was going on, and almost made him let go of the Dissonance’s hands as the noiselessness persisted.

The last thing he saw was Harmony, lying there in her sister’s arms, still motionless as she remained almost like sleeping. She looked so very peaceful, even though Sora knew that wasn’t the case. There was no peace in what had happened to her by force. But he would help her, help save her from what had been done to her.

Then there was only darkness before him as he felt pulled into the noiseless absence.

_~ . ~ . ~_

In the Silence, there was darkness. 

Not the inky darkness that swallowed up worlds and hearts but simply darkness that filled the void and remained. There wasn't nothing here, but it wasn't _something_ he was used to. At least, that's what he thought at first.

Sora floated among it all, in all the silence and darkness, weightless. 

Was he…? 

He soon felt an impression of a feeling on him. No words or sound, just the understanding of what it was trying to convey. A calming veil of concern draping over him, cooling his worry. 

How was he here?

A curious poke, an incorporeal one, brushed against his chest. Directly over his heart. In response, almost answering the call back, a small melody drifted with the touch before both disappeared.

What happened? 

A sharp tang of upset and anger coated his tongue. Regret sat heavy there; that was not his own. Then the icy coldness of sadness, before the sourness of blame swept through. 

**_It wasn’t your fault. They did this. Misguidedly, but…_ **

A nauseating wave of concerned rage built up in Sora’s throat, burning like acid and choking like bile. It was so much more than he could handle. Once more, it was not his own -at least not entirely his own that he could feel.

Please, stop!

Immediately, the choking burning washed away by a tidal wave of regretful sorrow and concern. But once the burn was washed away, it didn’t stop. The sorrow continued to grow more and more. It began to drown him under such a torrent of feelings. He felt like he truly was going to drown in this darkness and silence. But, just as the feeling got to the worst point, it receded like the tide on a beach.

Sora was left with an empty feeling of absence once all those strong emotions left.

What are…? Who are…?

His questions were understood. A feeling settled over his shoulders like a cape, a feeling of understanding. It sat there before a small noise, like a hum, entered his hearing. It was a droning sound, one that made him anxious as it continued.

It was really the only other Sound here that Sora could hear of.

**_Not yet, not yet. I have not finished. He will know soon enough._ **

Know what?

The drone sound stopped abruptly. There was a silence once more in this darkness, though Sora was starting to understand the difference.

Darkness was like the inkiness and heaviness of the weight of the ocean the deeper someone swam. The pressure would press against all sides and slowly start to crush the air out of the diver. Darkness wanted to consume the hearts and lights of all worlds, keeping the light of Kingdom Hearts within the Realm of Darkness.

This was not Darkness, not like that at least.

Here was a Silence that felt familiar to Sora. It felt comforting to be so silent, like there was nothing else. Of course, there was still a loneliness here as well, but it didn’t quite feel like his own loneliness. Something else, some other force, was definitely here that was feeling that. In his mind here, something was so close to his understanding about this place. There was a memory he couldn’t quite recall. Silence, the absolute here, felt more comforting than the creeping fear of Darkness that he had felt briefly.

I’ve...been here before.

**_You have._ **

**_Your heartsong was heard to me in this abyss of mine. So quiet, so close to being silent. One other had been like that before. Nothing should be so silent besides myself. I gifted Sound, and together helped create the Song and all that would be._ **

You are- You really are-?

**_All that there was before, silent and still. The loneliness of quietness, the absence of what-would-then-be noise, and the peace of perpetual stillness._ **

**_Silence._ **

Sora was left in a bit of a state of shock in this abyss of darkness. Or rather, an abyss of _silence_. He almost couldn’t believe it, since it still didn’t help him understand where the familiar feeling of being here before came from. Before coming to Harmony’s world, he had only known of the concepts of sound and silence as what they literally were and nothing more. Not like how Light, Darkness, and Nothingness were their own bigger forces.

Have I really been here before...uh, Silence?

**_Yes._ **

**_Do you not remember?_ **

There was a brief pause, before Sora felt a feeling of something brushing against his head. He figured that it, as the other times before, was Silence. He wasn’t as surprised as before with such a “touch” -if it could be called that. The feeling was cool, cold like a piece of ice soon being pressed against his forehead. 

Then the memories came trickling into his mind like a babbling brook.

_He was here again, in this abyss._

_But he didn’t know it then._

_All he knew was that Chirithy had warned him of Dissonance and Balance; that his heart was straining against what had happened to him. The little creature told him, as he faded from_ The Final World, _that he would not be returning to the Realm of Light. Nor would he be returning to the Realm of Darkness or Realm of Nothingness. They warned him that he would be going somewhere he never had been, in the far reaches of_ The Ocean Between _._

_Because something was wrong with his heart._

_It was hurt, they explained in a hurried voice. The sky mirrored above and below started to darken away. They reassured that they would make sure Kairi returned safely but warned that he would be set adrift again._

_Adrift in the sea of Darkness towards what was pulling at his weakening heart._

_Sora was slightly afraid._

_What was pulling at his heart?, he asked Chirithy, wanting to know and be prepared for what would happen to him. He was worried, but still he would not change what he had done in order to protect his friends. Kairi hadn’t deserved what happened to her._

_It would help, Chirithy promised. A way to heal his heart. Find the music to soothe the hurt!_

_But Sora didn’t understand. He didn’t understand how music would or could even help his heart._

_At first, he fought against that pulling feeling that dragged him away from_ The Final World _. But it was stronger, and Chirithy’s words accompanied his departure with reassurances. Sora was still afraid. He didn’t want to go somewhere unknown, not without his friends._

_His friends were his power. They stood by his side and kept him from feeling so alone._

_Sora didn’t want to feel alone again._

The Final World _vanished. Sora felt his body being pulled away. It felt further and further, like a raft drifting off into the sea during the beginnings of a storm. There was no way he could fight such a force dragging him away. So, he relaxed what he could and allowed it to take him away._

_Then he began to hear a strange sound._

**_Bah-dump...bah-dump-dump…_ **

_It sounded like a heartbeat, but it also sounded like one that was off-beat…_

**_You remember now how you came here._ **

Yes, from The Final World. Chirithy warned me what was going to happen. 

But how- why did you pull me here?

**_I know not how you ended up in that state, merely that your heartsong was weakened so much. So, I allowed you some sanctuary until it healed._ **

Sora thought over that, allowing for what Silence was telling him to simply be. It didn’t really make any sense to him, only that he hadn’t been forcibly pulled here by an unknown force. Silence had wanted to help him, and apparently it had.

Thank you, for helping me then. My heartsong doesn’t feel as weak-

**_That was not my doing._ **

What do you mean? I thought you summoned me here and healed my heartsong when I was here…

Sora realized that he didn’t know how he got from within this abyss realm to Harmony’s world. In his memories, he could not recall the transition either.

The droning hum returned again, pushing further against the absolute silence of Silence’s realm. It was persistent, even when Sora could feel the pushback from Silence. It felt like a stone in the middle of a stream, parting the water around it but not doing well in order to stop the flow completely. The sound grew louder and louder as it persisted.

**_I know! I know. I am telling him what he needs to know._ **

What do I need to know?

Sora felt another comforting wave over him again, but this time it was tinged with the buzzing like a fat bumblebee around him. It was an almost lazy kind of sound that lingered and felt like it was greeting him. He thought over it, before coming to the conclusion that this must be Sound.

The buzzing grew into almost the splashing of waves in a rainstorm. It was happy and continued to curl around him.

**_I see. Yes, this is_ ** **Sound _. But Sora, listen. You have the power to help heal. Not just the young heartsong we met before, but all those that forgot._**

Harmony, you’re talking about her. What happened to her? They, Syncopation, spoke of how her mother did something to her. To “heal” her, as they say. But Harmony argued against them. What they were doing was hurting people, hurting the Dissonance.

The wave-like sounds grew into a mournful wailing through trees. The sound he would hear in Halloween Town, adding to its overall creepy atmosphere. But these sounds weren’t creepy, merely sad sounds drifting alone and lost. It made him feel so sad, feeling affected by and for the sounds that he heard. 

Sora tried to comfort Sound, not knowing what was making them so sad but now wanting to help alleviate the sadness.

**_Yes, the Dissonance. So long have we not met. They are being kept from us by what happened to that young heartsong._ **

But what happened?

**_Some heartsong desperately tried to tamper with the Song, and, in foolishly doing so, created an absence of Dissonance. That absence was intentional, but what happened afterwards was not expected, even by us._ **

**_We mourned the loss of Dissonance within the Song, trying to bring them forth once again. But we could not. Then those that were created especially by the Song of Creation, the cherished ones of music, were gone to us. Lost to the_ ** **Darkness _and of_** _Sleep **. Those realms are not for us, so we had no way to save those of music.**_

**_Then they returned, and yet Dissonance was still lost to us. Until, we realized that that was not completely true. They were still somewhere, just somewhere trapped. Locked away and kept safely hidden._ **

Harmony, Sora supplied, realizing where this was going. Of course, he was starting to understand the bigger picture being painted now and what happened. All of this happened because of Euterpe and what she had done to her daughter, along with probably the burst of Heartless through the worlds from what Ansem the Seeker of Darkness had been planning with Xehanort.

When he helped awaken some of the Sleeping Worlds, then one of them must have been Harmony’s world!

But there was still a connection he was missing. One that linked him to Harmony’s world after it had returned from being a Sleeping World and after he helped Kairi return to the Realm of Light. Something was nagging at his thoughts to remember, something he felt he should know without needing to ask.

**Bah-dump-dump...Bah-dump...Bah-dump....**

A heartsong. A heartsong led me to Harmony’s world.

**_Yes, that is correct._ **

Sound hummed loudly around them, almost excitedly happy that he had figured it out for himself.

But Sora didn’t stop there, putting pieces together that were finally making sense to him now.

Harmony’s heartsong, after her world returned back to the Realm of Light, was still dissonant. Completely dissonant, isn’t that right? Because that’s what happened, or what you think happened. Euterpe ended up not taking away all the dissonance within Harmony’s heartsong, but giving her all of it. But then the Heartless invaded the world and plunged it into Darkness. When it returned, her heartsong hadn’t returned to “normal.”

**_That is good song you know now. All true. It was her heartsong that wanted to play a duet with yours to heal all that it had taken on. But what happened was the Dissonance you carried in your heartsong just continued to add to what was in hers._ **

**_Now you must help heal her with your heartsong._ **

How do I do that?

Sora wanted to help Harmony. He knew that he would do anything in order to do that for her. None of that should have happened to her, not at the young age he was realizing it occurred at. What her mother had done was so incredibly selfish, and it ended up hurting her so much. To do something so massive, that ended up hurting not just Harmony but the world too, along with the Song, seemed something he could never really understand. Like Xehanort’s plan, one person shouldn’t try to “fix” what they believe is “broken.”

At least now he understood why those Dissonance creatures crowded around Melody and Harmony. They probably had understood what happened, or at least felt on some level the pain that Harmony was going through. They could feel all the Dissonance that had been trapped inside of Harmony, hoping not completely erased by her being Silenced.

There were dual sensations that brushed against his chest. Before either Silence or Sound to really answer his question, Sora understood. He knew what they were meaning. It was such a simple answer, and something he was well versed in. Though, of course, he wouldn’t let his heart be overwhelmed by what needed to be done in order to help Harmony regain the sound of her heartsong that she needed.

I understand, he spoke to both of them. He could feel their answers back, a calming sensation of relief and a soft windy breeze through the trees. It was enough to tell him that he had the blessings of Silence and Sound now in order to do what he had to.

**_Go then, help her. Help Dissonance. Help the Song so that all heartsongs can be in tune with it._ **

With that final parting blessing, Sora was pulled from the abyss of Silence. The absence of most noise, aside from Sound itself, faded away. There was a brief pause of just nothing around him, before he felt an even stronger tug on his mind. This one Sora could understand what this feeling was. It was the pull from sleep to the waking world.

But he had an answer now to help Harmony and the Silenced heartsong she had now. It was an almost simple solution now.

_~ . ~ . ~_

A wide distance through the Ocean Between, sitting on the steps of a small part of a world lost in time to Darkness and Sleep, sat Kairi. She looked out at the wide view of stars, trying still to keep her heart hopeful and open for the return of two of her friends now. Even if she was worried, hadn’t stopped being worried since Sora hadn’t returned, her faith in them both kept her from jumping up and leaping into the unknown to find them.

Because even the unknown scared her a bit.

What that fear did not do was keep her from remaining hopeful in her heart. The connections she made with them would bring them back to her and all of their friends. Kairi knew that they all believed in such.

It is because of such hope, that soon she was rewarded by a soft melody stirring in her chest. It grew louder and more joyous, like the utter belief that anything was possible. The feeling nearly brought her to her feet, but it did bring a smile to her face.

Whatever was happening out in the wide unknown of the Ocean Between, whatever Sora and Riku were dealing with, they weren’t easily out-matched. Together, they were doing what they had always done together. 

Being the best with each other at their side.

_ So soon, they will return. So soon, as the Song will be completed once more. All that would be and should be back in Harmony will be once more. I can feel it once again. _

Whatever that force was, whatever that feeling was that Kairi could feel was not her own, it made her glad to hear and understand it. It provided her with enough proof, besides her own hopeful faith, that they were going to return. Apparently, return soon as well.

So, she looked up at the sky dotted with millions and stars, and slowly spoke out, “I knew that they could do anything, no matter where they were. Just like Sora, and Riku to find him.”

Nothing answered her back, but Kairi didn’t need a reply. All she needed was to keep waiting for her friends to return back to her once more.

_~ . ~ . ~_

Sora blinked open his eyes, feeling all the physical sensations around him come into focus once more. The silent abyss lingered only in his memories, since every sound now reminded him just how quiet Silence had been. Every breath, tick of machine, worried fidgeting, and even small discordant sounds from the few Dissonance present reminded him of where he was. And what he was meant to help with now.

He focused on Harmony, still lying in her sister’s arms unmoving. Her chest seemed to be rising and falling much slower than it had been before, looking almost too pale to be anything good. Worry tried to bubble up inside of him, but Sora squashed it down with the reassurances of not only what he felt in his heart but what Silence and Sound had told him he could do.

That he had the power within his own heartsong to help her, just as she helped him before they had even become friends.

"Melody," Sora's voice cracked with the name, as though he hadn't used it in ages, and caused him to turn his head away to cough for a moment before continuing, "I'm going to need your help. As well as Symphony's and you too, Riku." He glanced to them both as well, getting soft nods that they would help him out with whatever plan he had managed to think up. That definitely helped him believer further in himself and what he thought he could do.

"What can we do to help?" Melody asked, her voice as nearly soft as a whisper. It was a bit of a shock, remembering how strong and melodious her voice was before. Her voice now slipped closer and closer to silence, making Sora worry for a moment before reigning back such a feeling.

Here was the slight problem in answering her question. The exact " _How_ " was still a bit of a mystery to him. He could feel there was something present that would answer such a question.

The answer, surprisingly, came from Melody herself.

Because, as he thought over what to do or even tell her his plan, she had glanced back down to her sister and began humming. It was a soft tune, more like a lullaby, and something he had heard before. Harmony had hummed that very sound occasionally, often times stopping when he noticed her doing so. He asked her what the song was called or why she was humming it. Both time she would shrug her shoulders or say she just made it up.

Now he knew that wasn't exactly the case now.

The way that Melody hummed the song now, more melancholic than Harmony had, sparked a feeling in his chest. It was sad, mirroring the sadness from her, but it was something more too. The feeling grew, swelling as he continued to listen. Sora understood now, coming to the realization at what felt like a crescendo in his heart.

"That's it!" Those directly around him all looked over at the bright look on his face. "Music!" His epiphany came with a few confused looks, also well as stopping the humming from Melody.

"How Sora?" Symphony asked with full confidence in his conclusion. One of her hands had not left from its perch on Melody's shoulders.

He glanced to the other woman, then back at her wife. Melody was giving him a pleading look to help, which he already knew he could. But what he was really looking for was already what he had felt in his heartsong from them. It wasn't something physical that he could see.

It was what he could feel in his heartsong from the both of them. Now that he could concentrate, really hear the melody in his heart, he could also feel their own heartsongs in such close proximity. Sora wondered if they could hear his but pushed away those thoughts as he focused on what was to be done with such knowledge now.

"Your heartsongs," he answered their questions, soon softly smiling as he reached for their hands. "I can feel how they sound." He held each hand in his own, trying to give them all the support that his idea would work.

"Melody, yours is in perfect harmony," he explained, hearing her heartsong as though it was a brilliant, yet sadly soft song that was struggling. But even in its struggle, it remained completely harmonized. The complete opposite of what happened to Harmony and her own discordant heartsong. 

Then Sora turned his head to Symphony as he spoke with her, "And Symphony, yours is balanced." There was a subtle difference in hearing their heartsongs. So similar, but uniquely formatted. Symphony's possessed what he could hear where the small dissonant parts, but those parts complimented the harmonized parts perfectly.

Together would be the perfect start, since they also were Harmony’s immediate family as well.

"With your heartsongs to start, I know how to help Harmony."

As he let go of their hands, letting them fall to Harmony’s shoulders, he focused back on his own heartsong. It was then he noticed who else he would need to help him with this endeavor. He looked at Riku just as the other took the few steps over and knelt down at Sora’s side. Sora beamed a smile at the other, who he knew would be able to match with his heartsong just as perfectly as Symphony and Melody did for each other. Of course, the thought made him feel a warmth crawling up his neck and into his cheeks, but he managed to not let it get to him and lose his focus.

"What needs to be done?" Riku asked, giving Sora a small supporting smile that made Sora feel like this was going to work out just as he believed it would.

Sora returned the smile back, so bright and full of hope with them all around him now to help Harmony, and answered Riku, "Harmony needs us all to help her make a heartsong."

A deeply confused look furrowed Melody’s brow. "A new one?"

"Well,” Sora had a feeling she would have wondered what that meant, since he was just saying what he felt rather than what he knew for this world exactly, “or help her feel ours and remember how hers goes. I still don't know how to explain it, but I know that all of us are connected to one another. By our hearts, our heartsongs. It is that connection that can help her."

"Including them." Sora then looked towards the Dissonance still gathered around, almost awaiting with worried faces that looked near comical if the situation wasn’t as worrying as it was. Each one looked towards him, some looking confused or nervous. All but one, who was the closest and had been Riku’s guide here apparently. It, the jester-like one, met Sora's look with a look that looked like it was ready for whatever needed to be done.

“No!” came a yell that broke the moment, causing everyone to look over just as the Blizzard spell failed to keep Syncopation still. They broke free, reached for the machine that caused Harmony’s current condition, and raised it to point at the small group. There was a bit of a wild anger on their face, once it was clear that their “experiment” was going to be ruined by Sora and his help for his friend. The determination that fueled them Sora could feel through his heartsong as a rough pounding, one that was beating tirelessly in order to reach their end goal.

But Sora wouldn’t let them hurt Harmony again.

Just as he was about to stand up and summon his keyblade again to defend Harmony and everyone else, he noticed out of the corner of his eye Riku also raising _Braveheart_ in defense. But it was actually B-Flat that beat them both to the punch of keeping Syncopation from doing any more harm. Their bell-hanging flail knocked away the machine from Syncopation’s hands and then struck again to cause the other to be flung back into the computers behind them. The Silent Guard moved forward, pressing a button on their wrist guard just before grappling with the professor.

Sora watched as a quick, few blurs of silent movement descended the stairs, soon realizing that there were more Silent Guards present now. Those guards then apprehended the rest when the Blizzard spell began to crack and give way to all their movements.

"This isn't fair!" Syncopation cried out once B-Flat managed to secure bindings around their wrists. They then glared at Sora and Riku, though mostly at the former, "This was to help all and keep everything harmonious! How dare you both interfere with such grand work! Sound and Silence-"

Sora shook his head with a sad frown, "Never wanted anything like this to happen. Or what happened before to Harmony. They miss the Dissonance that was trapped away and kept from being heard." 

He stood up then, walking his way over to the professor. B-Flat gave him a look with one of their eyebrow's cocked high up. But they still allowed him to stand before Syncopation, who's glare had darkened further at his words. They looked ready to refute all of his words, but Sora continued to speak before they could.

"I've heard them tell that themselves. Surprisingly, you can hear a lot if you let yourself hear everything that needs to be heard."

The perceived arrogance from Sora further enraged Syncopation. They struggled in the holds of B-Flat's strong grip, trying to get closer to Sora. 

For what? He didn't know or want to find out. Instead he nodded his head to B-Flat's questioning look and then turned back around to take his spot once more in front of Harmony's cradled form. She was far more important and needed to be helped than arguing with someone so full of their own beliefs that they were deaf to anything else being said. Syncopation even continued to argue against what he said all the way as they were marched out of their lab.

Before leaving them alone within there, Sora noticed a few quick hand signs from the Silent Guard. They were obviously telling him where they were going and doing, but unfortunately, he still wasn’t prolific in understanding the sign language.

Symphony, who thankfully had looked over to B-Flat as they signed, translated what they had said, "They are going to report back to the Queen. Says to join the court when done. They also hope things go well."

Sora nodded and flashed a bright grin to B-Flat. "Thank you! It will!"

That was enough, it seemed, to reassure the Silent Guard before they left. Now, all who remained, were going to be the help that Harmony and her heartsong needed. Sora was sure of that, just as he felt the imbued belief that Silence and Sound had given to him with the task. It was just how to start it that was the slight problem.

But apparently the Dissonance creature that had been helping out the most appeared to sense such uncertainty. It patted Sora’s arm, drawing a look down at it, before soon it began to make a noise. 

A soft, upbeat tune that would rise and fall with seeming no beat or rhythm came from the creature. Sora watched as it would tilt its head from side to side, adding the jingling and jangling of the bells on its hat to the mix. It didn’t sound like anything harmonious for a heartsong or how to start one. But that was when Sora realized something very important as the Dissonance continued to make such sounds and music.

Even if it was dissonant from any real melody, it was making music. Sounds that would be punctuated by brief pauses of silence. Even if there was no harmony in its music, it was a piece that he thought they wouldn’t be able to provide when following its example.

“Thank you,” Sora breathed out, though the Dissonance didn’t stop its music to give him a thankful look in return. 

He then glanced at Melody and Symphony, asking them, “You should sing too.”

Both nodded, sharing a look between themselves, before beginning to sing individually. Their soft songs, songs of gentleness and love, were not the same song. But, nonetheless, their music complimented each other. The Dissonance’s music added another layer to the sounds being made, adding more of a harmonious touch than anything to disrupt the flow of songs from the two women. It was beautiful to hear for its uniqueness. The way that three separate songs and music could come together to be so well in tune.

For a brief moment, Sora paid sole attention to the music he was hearing. He snapped out of such trance when Riku nudged him and gave him a look that spoke silently of “And now?” The keyblader knew that it was nice for his part in the music that would help Harmony’s heartsong.

He would not be doing his part alone, however.

“Riku,” Sora softly breathed out, reaching for the other’s hand and grasping it. Their fingers linked together, keeping them held tight to each other. Nothing would be able to really break them apart, no force in all the worlds. Together, they would add in their part of the music from their own heartsong.

A song he heard in dreams and felt across worlds. Something so intimate and precious to him.

Both began to hum along with the song they had heard when helping a much younger Mickey in a dreaming world. A slow song, like the beating of a heart. One song that connected them through nearly different yet the same worlds. A song that rose and fell with joy and happiness, that swirled together in such a beautiful, uplifting beat. It slowed and lowered down to a lullaby for an enchanting dreamscape. It was a song that was theirs, forged from their hearts and reminding them of each other.

All four separate pieces of music came together to create a brilliant sounding musical now. All that sung did so with all that they felt and believed in, letting the music they made share in such a belief. None stopped or faltered. Each possessed a desire to help Harmony out, wanting her to come back to them.

As the song continued, Sora focused on Harmony as he continued to hum the song that was shared in his heart. It was then that he could feel another, hear another tune joining all their music together. It was softer, so much softer, but it was growing up from the quietness surrounding her. It was joining along with their music, connecting all the songs and binding them together into one.

One heartsong.

Sora smiled, unable to keep at bay his happiness to hear that. Even Melody had noticed the newest addition. Her eyes went wide, but she did not falter or stop singing. She almost re-doubled her singing, nearly singing over them all. But Melody managed to reign back in her excitement, her _hope_ , that her sister was not lost to them.

As with any song, eventually their music started to wind down. Each could feel that they were nearing the ends of their songs that had been sung to help Harmony. A few shared looks between each other showed the concern that they all felt, since Harmony hadn’t woken back up yet.

Sora knew that this was working. That it would work since he got the idea. But he was starting to become nervous and afraid that he hadn’t enough belief in himself and the others around that this would work. 

It was because of that slight nervousness that caused him to miss a beat on time with Riku, feeling the flush of shame for doing so. Sora glanced over to the other keyblader; afraid he had messed him up with his mistake. But Riku simply met his gaze back with a calm look in his eyes, a soft smile on his lips, and squeezing Sora’s hand. It all was meant to reassure him that, even that small mistake, wouldn’t be enough to stop them from helping Harmony out. From going forward with what they were doing.

Sora smiled back and nodded, feeling much better and still humming along with the hearts’ tune and with the others.

As their voices got softer and softer, coming to the close of their individual songs together, Sora watched Harmony. He focused on her face all the way until the very end of the song they had come together to sing. Then, once it ended, he waited with bated breath in silence for something, anything, to happen. Everyone else remained the same, silent and waiting for something to happen.

Then Sora noticed a twitch underneath Harmony’s eyes, her nose wrinkling a bit, before she breathed deeply and almost comically louder than necessary. But it was sound. Enough sound to make them all smile as Harmony cracked open her eyes, as though she had only been sleeping. She glanced up and around at all the smiling faces, of those that had helped her and cared for her.

And the first words from her lips were to them all, “Thank you.”

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

_This music leaps from key to key  
_ _as if it had no clear place to arrive,  
_ _making up its life, one bar at a time._

-an excerpt of "J. S. Bach: F# Minor Toccata" by Bill Holm


	10. Harmony's POV & Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe that this is the last chapter of Swan Song. That this series is finished. Honestly, it still surprises me that I managed to make it this far. A lot of times, I will start multi-chapter fics and never finish them. But this, this was something I really wanted to get through. I love these characters, this story! It was something that I couldn't just let it remain inside of my head!
> 
> Thank you all for reading it! It really was so nice to see that someone was interested in reading my story!
> 
> I might have a small one-shot or two to add to the series, but, for the plot, it is now over with. Thank you once again for reading!

There is a balance in all things,  
not because there needs to be.  
But because nothing wants  
to be alone.

If there is silence,   
then there will be sound.  
If there is a beautiful harmony,  
then a cheerful dissonance must be.

For you see, even  
Music is made up of all  
the stops and starts of sound  
and the tranquility of silence.

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

"Thank you," Harmony told them again, feeling like she should say it so many more times. They all deserved it, for helping her come back. She could feel all their heartsongs within her own, so loud and harmonious in tune with each other. Harmony had never felt this harmonized in a _long_ while.

But, before she could say her thanks again, Melody's arms were around her and holding her tight. Harmony felt the hot tears dripping down onto her shoulder. Knowing that her sister was crying caused Harmony to soon start crying as well.

"Oh Harmony! Harmony, you're _back_!" Melody cried out, still sobbing out hiccups as she did.

Another pair of arms wrapped around the sisters, Harmony noticing that they were Symphony's. So, she hugged her sister-in-law back, holding tight to the two people that had cared for her growing up.

But Harmony wasn’t content with hugging just them. She looked over her shoulder at Sora, who was smiling a bright smile with a bit of a teary look in his eyes. After waving him over to join the group hug, Harmony found his arms, as well as Riku’s, surrounding her. 

Harmony was completely surrounded by people who helped her, who cared about her, and who loved her. There was no feeling stronger than the sheer amount of happiness she felt in her heartsong right now. It felt incredible.

“So glad you and your heartsong are healed, Harmony,” she heard Sora say before he pulled away, still smiling with now more of a glimmer in his eyes that made her wonder just what he might by _that_. There was definitely something she didn’t know right now. Harmony wanted to know what that was now.

“Yes, it is. But how?”

Melody still hadn’t let go of her, with her arms still wrapped around her, “Sora, he suggested- well, no. He said that we had to help your heartsongs with our own and our own music. With all of us singing, it appeared to have worked!”

Harmony found herself a little dazed in hearing that, surprised that it had been _Sora_ who suggested that. She looked at him with a surprised look, which earned her back a sheepish look. But she couldn’t say that he had been wrong, obviously now awake and feeling much better than before. It just felt a little...odd, that he had managed to come up with such an idea and execute it as well.

“How do you figure that would work, Sora?” Harmony then asked, now lightly tapping her sister’s arms to let them go. Once they finally, and reluctantly, did, Harmony moved to sit in front of Sora to hear his response.

Something hummed in the air to draw her to do that. There was a buzz all around that she could feel, soon noticing that it wasn’t just the five of them present as well. After glancing around, Harmony saw each and every one of the Dissonances that were present still and surrounding the group. There was a pause as they looked back at her, before cheers of discordantly, colorful sounds and cheers filled the lab.

Harmony jerked in surprise at the sound, before her eyes landed on one of the Dissonance among them all. It was the one that had helped the most, that had approached her and helped when they were all helping her heartsong become Unsilenced. The little, jester-like Dissonance approached somewhat timidly and stopped about a foot away from her. It looked nervous in its own way.

That wasn’t the reason she stared hard at it. Something tugged at her memories, wanting to come to the forefront of her mind. She knew _something_ about this little creature before her.

“It helped us out, Harmony,” Sora informed her, before the creature nodded its head with a jingling jangle of the bells attached to its funny hat.

That’s when the memory struck Harmony, and she gasped.

“Jangle!” she cried out, startling everyone and the Dissonance as well. “Is it really you?”

The creature apparently named “Jangle” nodded its head, before it was scooped up into Harmony’s arms to be given a hug as well. It made light and funny sounds, obviously pleased to be hugged by her. The rest of the Dissonance around gave out a cheering sound, obviously so happy that they were hugging. The people, on the other hand, were a bit at a loss as to what was going on.

“Jangle? That’s its name?” Riku asked, curious to know since he had been the one to deal with it most recently.

“Yes,” Harmony answered back, still grinning happily and hugging the creature, “Oh, I haven’t seen you since…”

That was when she frowned and pulled the Dissonance away to properly meet Jangle’s bright orange, glowing eyes. It stared back, soon hanging its head sadly. Harmony looked back with a sad look as well.

“Since Mom decided to do that experiment. Jangle...I saw it and was playing with it. It's my friend. Mom didn’t seem to mind, or even notice back then when it appeared to me. But I don’t think that was case now, since she must have known...”

_The little five-year-old was giggling as she sat on the lab floor. There were so many shiny machines all around her and making such funny noises. None more so than the creatures before her beyond the glass wall. They all looked so funny and even tried to get her to come play with them. But her mama had told her not to go over there._

_But one had snuck out._

_Harmony giggled as the creature as it danced around and did a few tumbles for her. It was so funny, and it made her so happy to watch and play with. She knew it was her friend, could feel it like the heartsong in her chest._

_It had felt like so long since she had a friend that she felt so happy around. Melody had stopped playing with her when she started to sing more now. It felt a little unfair that she couldn’t even join her sister in singing. But her mama had told her it wasn’t the same, and that she shouldn’t try singing at such a young age._

_Harmony pouted when she thought about that, getting a curious look from the creature that she had been playing with. She was so glad that it was here to play with her now._

_Her mama was still so busy, of course, so she didn’t have time to play with her yet. But she promised that_ soon _she would have all the time to play with her. She had told Harmony that she was trying to help her, help everyone that might be like her. Of course, that didn’t make much sense, since Harmony felt fine. Her mama had told her that it was something about her heartsong._

_That made the little girl a little sad and wondered what was wrong with her heartsong. It hadn’t felt off, just happy little tunes with quick dips and sometimes funny sounds that made her so happy._

_Like now, with this creature making all the jangling noises. The noises seemed so funny to listen to, making Harmony laugh loudly and almost in tune with them._

_“Harmony!” her mother had called out, drawing her attention away from the creature that had been keeping her company. Her mama was looking over to her with a strange look on her face that made the little girl feel like she shouldn’t have been playing right now. But it had been so hard to resist not playing with nothing else to do. Then that look on her mother’s face smoothed out into a smile, before she walked over to Harmony._

_“My lovely little Harmony,” her mama reached out and scooped her up into her arms, making Harmony giggle as she did, “such a lovely little harmony you are. You will be a perfect harmony, won’t you? Just like the Harmony of the Song.”_

_“Mama,” Harmony giggled out, feeling so embarrassed but so happy to be called such nice things. Her mama was like that sometimes, calling her like that. A certain feeling of pride came with being linked to the Harmony of the Song of Creation._

_It made her feel so special and not so bad about being so lonely sometimes when her mama and sister had work to do. No one else really played with her then, except now she had a new friend!_

_Harmony glanced over her mother’s shoulder to see where her new friend was. When she saw the creature looking back at her with a sad look, that made the little girl frown. She tried to wave at it, to make it not be so happy. Maybe it was because she was going to play now with her mama._

_Instead of playing, however, Harmony was sat down in a small chair for her size. She glanced around, wondering what was going on. Her mama grabbed a machine, which was hooked up to something that had oozing, black liquid inside of a canister. Harmony stared at it, though it made her slowly start to feel a bit uneasy when her mother continued to make adjustments on the machine she held in her hand._

_“Mama…” Harmony didn’t like feeling afraid now, thinking that her mama wouldn’t want her to be. But she also knew her mama wouldn’t hurt her either. Whatever that oozy goo was, the little girl didn’t think it would hurt her if her mother had it._

_When Euterpe turned back to her daughter, she smiled softly and held up the small handheld machine in her hands. It looked a little like a double-flute, just much smaller to fit in one hand._

_Harmony stared at it, before she glanced up at her mother. That smile, the one she always felt so happy to see, now made her a bit uneasy. Something wasn’t right now._

_“Don’t worry, little Harmony. Everything will be alright soon enough. No more inharmonious sounds.”_

_Harmony opened her mouth to say “Mama” once more and to ask what she meant by that. But then she heard a noise that blocked out all noises around her, and her vision soon went dark. Faintly Harmony thought she could hear her mother calling out her name, before the gentle silence swept in. All she could feel was a sleepiness within such peace and quiet. It felt gentle, like her mama’s hugs._

_Maybe she would sleep for just a little bit now..._

“That it was and is your Dissonance,” Sora added to what Harmony spoke about. The fact that he knew that made her look at him with surprise, before she nodded and glanced back to Jangle.

The creature bobbed its head once more, before it started to play a playful tune that was cheery and delightful to hear. It wasn’t strictly a set tune, but a collection of sounds that sounded so wonderful to Harmony.

How her mother thought that such creatures were bad, she would never really know now. Even Syncopation and Ostinato’s own hatred didn’t make sense to her. But maybe they were even more in disarray in their heartsongs than they had realized. When her own was full of the dissonance that had been missing, she never could think that the Dissonance not being present was a good thing.

“Yes, it is. Wouldn’t want it any other way.” Harmony allowed Jangle to then sit upon her shoulders before standing up now. 

Everything felt...better now. There was a lightness now that she felt, both in mind and in her heartsong. A joy that came with knowing and being helped. It felt as though she could finally breathe much easier now.

When she glanced back down to her sister, ready to even help her up, Melody appeared to be feeling quite the opposite. 

There was a soft frown on her face, even while Symphony’s arms still draped themselves around her wife’s shoulders. It was a sadness that Harmony didn’t know the cause of. So, she squatted back down to be face-to-face with the other.

“What’s wrong, Mel’? Everything alright now. Sora and you all helped save me and-”

“But I didn’t notice how Mother had hurt you,” Melody softly answered back, with tears soon rolling down her face. Her eyes were on the floor, staring absently and without being able to meet her sister’s. “I hadn’t even realized _now_ how you had been feeling. What kind of sister doesn’t notice something like _that_? A terrible one, that’s who. I’m so sorry, Harmony.”

But Harmony shook her head, reaching out to pat her sister’s shoulder, “No, Mel’. Look at me.” When the other finally did, she continued to speak. “It’s...well, it’s alright now. I don’t hold any of that against you. You helped take care of me, since Mama disappeared. You’ve been a good sister to me.”

“But-” Melody tried to interject, but she was soon hushed by Harmony before she could speak anything more.

“You couldn’t have known what Mama was doing. You also had your own life to lead too. I’m also happy to live with you and Symphony, and I can’t fault you for living your life how you wanted as well. So, let’s just agree that everything’s alright now, okay?”

Tears still rolled down Melody’s cheeks, but she nodded her head. She stood up with help from her wife and sister, drawing them both into a hug once again. Both hugged her back with tight arms around her. There was a different shift in the air between them, now that the truth had been revealed. But it was a good, subtle change now. 

A step in the right direction now.

Harmony then turned away from both of them to face the friend who had come here and helped her out so much. Sora was smiling back at her just as brightly as she knew he would. So, she stepped over and hugged him as well, thanking both him and Riku for helping her.

“Thank you, Sora. Thank you and Riku for what you did.” Harmony felt his arms squeeze tighter and the soft murmuring that she didn’t need to thank him. A smirk slipped onto her lips as she then told him, “If I would have known all the trouble and adventure you would have brought with you…”

“Hey!” he cried out, pulling away enough to give her an outraged look that faded into laughter from the both of them. 

Neither of them would have expected any of this to happen to them, but Harmony was glad to have the other to be here to help her. Even if none of this would have happened for him to need to be here to help, even if she hated the thoughts of him leaving, Harmony knew that she didn’t regret meeting Sora and being his friend.

And she knew he felt the same way as well.

“What happens now?” Sora then asked, glancing back to Riku and seeing the other shake his head in response.

“I don’t know. I came here because of Jangle,” the keyblade master answered back, which caused them all to look to the creature seated upon Harmony’s shoulder. It tried to duck behind her head and failed to really hide away from their gazes at all.

Harmony let out a sigh and told them with a regretful tone, “I doubt Jangle can get you both back. It is connected to me and my heartsong, and I’m still here.”

Melody also added into the conversation, “And the Queen needs to still speak to us about what happened. I don’t think you two leaving will be a good thing to do either, at least for right now.”

“Yeah, there’s that too.”

The group looked amongst each other, before silently resolving that heading back to the castle was their best course of action. There really wasn’t any use staying in Syncopation’s lab, though Harmony did pause for a moment at the bottom of the stairs leading out of there. She turned back around to stare at the group of Dissonances, that she soon noticed had begun to follow them now. Jangle now sat on her shoulder, looking between her furrowed face and the group of creatures.

“They can’t all come along, can they?” Melody asked along, speaking the question that Harmony had been pondering over as well.

Leading a group of Dissonances to the castle didn’t seem like the smartest plan in the world. It certainly would shock everyone there and probably upset the Queen to see them. No one probably even remembered them either, which makes it even more of a negative to bring them along. But keeping them here seemed too cruel to do to them still. They weren’t harmful little creatures, just misunderstood and abused by Syncopation and Ostinato.

What to do…?

“Hmm,” Harmony hummed aloud in thought. Jangle mirrored such a sound in its own sort of way. She watched several of the Dissonance look confused at her. “I wonder if I can…”

Harmony stretched out one of her hands, almost waving it in front of her like a conductor. She concentrated on the music of her heartsong, focusing on the feeling of the Dissonance that was within it. Even though it was Harmonized thanks to her family and friends, the discordant part was still there as well. But now it was balanced with the rest of her heartsong, like it should have been all along.

As she did this, she briefly closed her eyes in focus. The feeling of music, she listened to it deep within her. That spark, the brightness she could feel, Harmony aimed for it and brushed against it. She then dove after it, listening to the swell of music within her heartsong. It was rising, like the tide, growing stronger and stronger.

Just as she opened her eyes, the group around her gasped in what now rested in Harmony’s out-stretched hand.

“Is that a-” Harmony began to say, almost not believing what she was holding. But she could feel its weight, the power surging through her hand and arm, and how it was connected to her heartsong.

“A keyblade!” Sora finished, soon stepping closer to inspect it. Harmony watched him, stared at the keyblade, and then realized that things really had gone from strange-but-manageable to completely outlandish.

“How? Why? Did I-?”

The keyblade’s keychain hung a tragedy mask, which connected to the hilt guard of the blade made up of a complete circle of a lush green laurel wreath. Sprouting from the laurel hilt guard was musical sheets designed as waves of the ocean filled with many different music notes. All of them flowed directly towards the extension at the top, an amber shaped heart with a part of its center missing in the same shape.

Harmony knew its name as she looked over this keyblade. _Silence of Sound_. It was hers; she could feel its power connected to her heartsong. 

Part of her almost was too nervous and afraid to even wield such a weapon, remembering what Sora could do with it. Another part of her felt exalted and excited. In all her years, nothing came as close to feeling _right_ as wielding a keyblade did right now. Her heartsong sung happy and loudly within her as she continued to hold this summoned weapon of her. It was summoned for her, because of her. The thought of adventure, like the ones that Sora took on, also made her eager to be one too.

She glanced at Sora, smiling bright, before looking at her sister. Harmony could see a soft frown on Melody’s lips, knew what she was going to ask about or probably tell her. But nothing she could say, unfortunately, could change Harmony’s mind. It also appeared that Melody knew that as well as Harmony head onto the keyblade in her hand.

Her heartsong sung true to where she would be going next, knowing that Sora wouldn’t be leaving without her now. There was now an adventure for her to undertake, worlds to see, and people to help now.

Harmony couldn’t wait!

* * *

**~ _Epilogue_ ~**

There had been a part of her heartsong that she never could understand before. It was a part that pulled her in a direction that even she didn’t know where it led to. So, she had tried to fill in her time by practicing arts and writing music, hoping that it would quell that drive in her heartsong that kept trying to get her to go in a specific direction. Even though it felt a bit reassuring that there was some part of her heartsong that wanted to head in a direction, the rest of her still felt unsure and alone in what she wanted to do.

That all changed, of course, when Harmony met Sora.

Everything changed when she met him.

Because now, she stood in her room, where some things were missing from their usual spots and packed up into a bag for her to take with her. Her eyes moved across familiar spots, her desk and bookshelf and bed, before resting on the open window that let the gentle breeze noiselessly inside.

Harmony turned away when she heard footsteps going up the stairs and towards her room, smiling at her sister with a bit of surprise on her face.

“Sora’s waiting downstairs,” she told Harmony, and the uncertainty surrounded her like a blanket. But Melody was trying really hard to be supportive, and Harmony knew that she couldn’t blame her sister for not really being able to be okay with this.

Going off to other worlds, training with a magical weapon, fighting monsters to protect other people...all of that was a lot to take in for anyone.

But Harmony had also told her sister how she could feel this path in her heartsong. How it was leading her own to what would come next in her life. Harmony could also see how Melody understood what she meant and maybe even felt it in her own heartsong as well. That’s all she could really ask of the other, her support in what she wanted to do now.

“Thanks, Mel’,” Harmony answered back, shrugging her bags’ straps over her shoulders. She couldn’t take everything to stay at Master Yen Sid’s tower, but Sora told her that she should bring enough that it reminds her of home.

Once she moved closer to her sister, Melody held out her arms wide for a hug. Harmony sunk into them, feeling the warmth and love shared between them. She definitely would miss her sister’s hugs while she was gone, and her cooking too. That ache of just the thought of being away from her family settled into her chest, making it feel so much heavier than it was.

But this was her path now; her way led by her heartsong.

Everyone had high hopes for her, though Harmony felt a bit nervous about it. Especially when the Queen told her that she would become a member of the counsel if and when in times that the world needed her knowledge as a keyblade wielder.

_The Queen was standing now in front of her throne when the small group entered the throne room once more. There was a tension the air that hadn’t been previously, or hadn’t been until the Heartless attacked and Syncopation made their grand entrance. But the professor wasn’t present now, just the guards that lined the walls at a distance from each other and the Queen now. Lady Nocturne wasn’t at her usual spot next to her queenly lover._

_“You’ve all returned together,” Queen Ave-Marie stated with a bit of an air of questioning. Her eyes scanned over all of them, before moving back and noticing the only remaining Dissonance still among the group._

_The rest had scampered off and disappeared in sounds of music once Harmony had begun to shoo them away as they left the lab. She told them that they were free now. That they belonged in this world just as any other sound or music. Of course, once they all had vanished besides Jangle, Melody had raised some questions on how other people would react to the new presence of the Dissonance after so long. Harmony answered that it would be alright and others would get used to the new presences._

_She hoped._

_Now faced with the Queen and realizing that that might not have been the best idea she’s had._

_“The creatures? Those “Dissonances” that Syncopation raved on are where, exactly?”_

_Harmony glanced over to Sora and then her sister, realizing the rest of the group were looking about each other as well. She knew that they couldn’t take any of the blame for what she did, so she stepped forward to explain not just the Dissonance, but everything that had happened._

_“They left,” Harmony answered back simply, getting a look from the Queen to explain further her answer, “they didn’t belong in that lab and deserve to be free in our world. The Dissonance have a place among the Song, just like all of us! I couldn’t tell them to do anything else, because I know in my heartsong that I was right to allow them that.”_

_“I see,” the Queen murmured, looking less sure in Harmony’s beliefs than she would have liked, “so the responsibility falls on you now, doesn’t it?”_

_“It does, your Majesty,” Harmony agreed, nodding her head before soon bowing it somewhat to the monarch, “and that is not all. I have...well, it would be better if I showed you.”_

_Harmony then lifted up her head and held out her hand. Within a flash of light and music too,_ Silence of Sound _appeared in her grasp. After holding it up a bit for the Queen to see, she lowered it down to her side as she met the Queen’s gaze back. It was hard to tell what Queen Ave-Marie was thinking, but Harmony waited there for whatever she would have to say next._

_But, instead of her, another spoke instead._

_“I was wondering if one from our world would soon wield a keyblade.”_

_All glanced over to see another woman enter the throne room through one of the side entrances. She was an elderly woman, dressed as regal as Queen Ave-Marie was. Where the belled crown of the current queen sat upon her head, this woman had just a simple jeweled coronet around her head. Her dress was of blues and purples, with small stars glittered about in a swirling, almost whimsy fashion._

_She walked the distance towards the throne, standing nearer to Queen Ave-Marie than the rest that stood before her, and spoke to her as well, “Do you not remember the last time those that wield the keyblades visited? Then again, it has been sometime since then. You were only a child, Ave-Marie.”_

_“Other keybladers came here, your Majesties?” Riku asked the question that the rest of the group had been almost too surprised to ask themselves._

_Just as the elderly woman nodded her head, Queen Ave-Marie muttered out, “Mother…”_

_“Yes, they have. A long, long time ago. Called himself Yen Sid, I believe. He came here in search of others with a strong heart that could potentially wield a keyblade and defend the words. He told me that I possessed a strong enough Light to wield one and be a formidable wielder at that. But I denied his request to go with him, because I had a duty as Queen then to protect my world and my daughter by remaining here to rule over it. I told him that there were sometimes better and easier ways to protect one’s people than going far away.”_

_As she spoke then about what she had said, her eyes landed on Harmony. Her gaze was on that spoke more than the words that came from her lips. It made Harmony feel like a child again, though the words provided a comforting feeling as well. Like a blessing given to her that she could be that which the previous queen could not._

_“I think you will be an excellent keyblade wielder from our world,” the elderly woman finished off in saying._

_Harmony bowed low to her and thanked her, “Thank you, your majesty Queen-Mother Fantasia.”_

_Queen Fantasia smiled warmly in hearing the confident tone now in Harmony’s voice as she spoke her thanks. She nodded her head once, looking to her daughter in an expectant way._

_The look that was met back was far more exasperated than before. Queen Ave-Marie looked as though dealing with her mother was full of more of intrusions and stories about the past. Not that she spoke anything against her mother being there, but it was clear she didn’t necessarily want her there as well._

_“Yes, well, I think more discussion needs to be have to fill in the rest of the details of what happened. I would like to have a concrete story that makes sense among all this noise that has been playing.” Queen Ave-Marie then sat back on her throne to hear the rest of what needed to be spoken about._

_Harmony did her best, plus additions added in from Sora and Riku as well. It wasn’t an easier story to finish up telling about all that happened, but Harmony felt as though that now she was finding where she belonged. Instead of being swept up or forced into something happening to her, with her keyblade now, she felt as though she had the power in her hands now. More so than just literally. It felt right._

The two sisters ended their hug and headed down the stairs. Voices bounced along the walls of the house, enough to fill the place up with sound. It was nice to hear, reminding Harmony of those that cared about her enough to see her off. But it did remind her that she was leaving them behind, traveling to a different world to train before possibly going to many other worlds. When she would see them again wouldn’t be so easily pin-pointed.

Thankfully, Sora promised to get her a “gummiphone” that would allow her to remain in contact with those here.

Thinking of such a keyblader, Harmony saw him talking with the twins within the living room as Melody and she entered inside. He glanced over, smiling brightly at her, before Beat rushed by him.

Harmony had only a moment to brace herself, before he was hugging her tightly and crying out, “I can’t believe you’re leaving!” She knew that the blubbering he was doing was mostly fake, though she knew that he was a bit upset that she was leaving. In his shoes, she would have felt upset too.

So, she patted his back and told him, “I’ll come back to visit from time to time, Beat. Don’t worry. I can’t stay away from any of you for long, wouldn’t be right.”

Beat sniffed loudly and nodded, pulling reluctantly away from Harmony. In his eyes she could see the shine of tears and felt a bit of regret for causing them. Before she could comfort him, he was wiping away those unshed tears and smiled at her. Rhythm stepped forward then, moving past their brother to give her a hug next.

“We’re going to miss you,” they told her softly, holding her tight in their arms. “But your heartsong is leading you out there, and you deserve to follow it.”

Harmony hugged them back just as tightly, burying her face into their shoulder. Somehow, their words made her feel a little worse about leaving. But Rhythm was right. She did deserve to follow her heartsong to where it was leading her along. She had a keyblade now to be her guide and help others too.

“Thank you,” Harmony murmured to them. The hug ended shortly after, and Rhythm stepped away and back to their brother to stand together. 

Hugs were given all around, by Melody once more, Symphony, and even Orchestra. The elderly woman, after giving her hug, looked at her directly in the eyes. It was a bit unnerving as she did, and Harmony wondered why she was doing so in the first place. It felt as though she was looking for something.

Apparently, she found it and nodded her head once.

“You’ll do good out there,” Orchestra told her, with a confidence that made Harmony blink in surprise and then blush, “your heartsong is strong. But make sure you don’t let it falter or fade. You have to keep playing, keep practicing. It is your responsibility.”

“I will,” Harmony answered back, not wanting to disappoint her or anyone else here on her world. She wanted to make them all proud of her.

Harmony then looked among her family and friends, looking at each of their proud faces and listening to each part of their heartsongs that melded with her own. She could feel their support, hear it combining with her own heartsong leading her along. This wouldn’t just be a journey for her to undertake, because she had others waiting and counting on her doing her best. They all believed in her, and it felt incredible.

She then turned to Riku and Sora, who stood there smiling and grinning, “Guess it’s time to go to Tempo’s lab to see if they’re ready.”

Harmony nodded her head in agreement. The scientist, once filled in more about other worlds and some ways of travel between them, used some of the technology from Riku’s gummiphone to finish up their work with transporting and music. They managed to even get in contact with the King and those residing in Radiant Garden, which would hopefully be the other transport link once it was finished.

A bout of nervous excitement bubbled up inside of Harmony. She couldn’t stop the bounciness of her movement, but she still waved goodbye to those she was leaving and walked through Symposia-Operani towards the capital and the rest of her new adventure.

As they walked along the sidewalks of the peaceful street, Harmony mused aloud between them, “I can’t believe you were just found lying here close by. And now everything has changed, and you managed to help save and heal me.”

Sora ducked his head and grinned at her. “You helped me too, Harmony. Couldn’t have found out anything or be on our way.”

Riku nodded his head too, agreeing with the sentiment of his best friend. The air between them had definitely changed, that Harmony could notice. But they both appeared much happier together, which she now felt ridiculous at how she felt before. They couldn’t be separated, obviously, and didn’t deserve to be. She was glad they weren’t.

And now, she had her own path now that she wasn’t separated from anymore either. A keyblade and a way to help others who needed help like she had. It felt exhilarating to be in this next part.

The music sounded sweet and joyous within her heartsong, mixing with the rest of the music all around them. The Song sung happily for what lay ahead.

_~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~_

In all things there is a music that cannot be silenced.  
Everything had a song it needs to sing.  
Be in a loud, bellowing tune  
Or the sweetest lullaby.  
Music comes from everyone and within their hearts


End file.
